Dragon's Lair
by pokebunny
Summary: Choco starts her journey with some dragon pokemon and a starter Eevee and tries to become a Dragon Master, but what happens when a new team forms from the old Team Rocket? Read to find out. Also in need of characters, read chapter 13 for details.
1. Dragons

"PIKACHU!" A jolt of electricity woke up Choco Ketchum in the morning.

One glance at the watch and she jumped out of bed. It was 10:35.

"Pika! I told you to wake my up at 10:00!" Shouted Choco as she got dress quickly.

Pika was what Choco had called Pikachu when she was small and now she thought of it as a good nickname.

"Hey, it's innocent, you just wouldn't wake up!" Said Misty.

"How could I not wake up! I'mto get a starter pokemontoday!" Said Choco fumbling around the room.

"I don't know Strawberry, you gained your father's sleeping ability." Said Misty as Choco dashed past her into the hallway and down the stairs.

Choco Ketchum was your regular 10-year-old ready to start her journey. Her nickname, Strawberry, came from her short,light redish hair. Her light chocolate eyes were where her name came from. She was wearing a blue short sleeved shirt with a hood and jeans and a pokemon belt of which her dad had helped her catch some pokemon.

"I'm going to the lab! Be right back!" Shouted Choco and the front door slammed shut.

Misty sighed and Pikachu bounced into the next room to wake up Ash.

Meanwhile, Choco raced down to the lab, which wasn't that hard, just for the point she was already late. Getting there, she saw her rival, Kathy Oak, had already picked a pokemon and was coming out of the lab.

"Well well, what did your little Pikachu drag in today?" She taunted with a smirk.

"Whatever." Choco was in no mood to argue.

Rushing into the lab, she found Professor Oak waiting patiently.

"I know I'm late." Started Choco before she got a lecture of being on time, "But can I have a starter?"

Professor Oak looked a bit disappointed,

"I'm sorry, Kathy took the last starter, a Squirtle, just like her dad." Said Oak.

Choco's eyes widened, then brimmed with tears.

"So I have to wait?"

The professor looked at her and sighed.

"Just like your dad, well I guess I could give you one of these."

He walked to the back of the lab and to a play pen of pokemon.

"I just have this Eevee left that no one wanted, I guess you could have it." He said and it jumped into Choco's arms happily.

"I'll take it! How 'bout it buddy, want a nickname?"

The Eevee nodded, wagging its tail excitedly.

"How about... Usagi?"

Eevee shook her head.

"Inu?"

Another shake.

"How about after my nickname, Ichigo?"

This time Eevee, or Ichigo, jumped into Choco's arms happily.

"Ok, Ichigo, return."

A red beam of light shot from the pokeball Choco was holding but Eevee dodged it.

"Come on, Ichigo..." Said Choco.

Ichigo shook her head.

"Fine, you can stay out of your pokeball, just don't make too much trouble." Said Choco rolling her eyes.

While walking out of the lab, Kathy stopped her.

"My starter is stronger." She said smirking.

"Ichigo could beat you anyday." Said Choco definately.

"Yeah, right, a stupid little Eevee? I don't think so." Kathy laughed.

"Fine, we'll see, go Ichigo!" Said Choco.

"Let's show 'em Squirtle!" Said Kathy releasing a pokeball as a blue turtle pokemon came out.

"Ichigo, Agility!"

"Squirtle, Water Gun!"

"Eevee, when you're close enough, use Quick Attack!"

Before Kathy could change her mind, Ichigo popped up behind Squirtle and Tackled the little turtle pokemon right in the head, making it take severe damage and having it recoil slightly.

"Squirtle, Withdraw!"

"Ichigo, Shadow Ball!"

"Squirtle, Rapid Spin!"

"Ichigo, Bite!

Ichigo's Shadow Ball hit an empty target as Squirtle's hard shell hit Ichigo's body,Ichigo bite down hard on it and both pokemon jumped back on contact, obviously hurt and worn out.

"Ichigo, End this with Flail!"

"Squirtle, Iron Tail!"

Both pokemon ran towards each other but Ichigo was quicker and hit Squirtle with a devestating Flail attack and it fainted.

"YES! Ichigo! Nice job!" Said Choco picking up the little dog pokemon and swinging it around.

"Yes, that was a indeed a good battle." Said Professor Oak.

The two turned around, both were so engrossed battling that neither had seen him watching.

"Kathy, you didn't see her Eevee's speed and failed to use it against her. Maybe you should train up a bit." He continued.

Kathy just huffed and walked out to the road leading out of town.

"So what kind of team do you want to raise?" Said Professor Oak as he turned to Choco.

"I want to raise Dragon Pokemon, except for Ichigo, that is. I love Eevees too! I already have some." Said Choco as Eevee took residence on Choco's shoulder.

"That is great. You should get going now, your parents would like to see your pokemon and I know Ash doesn't like to wait!" Said Professor Oak and he headed back inside the lab.

Choco walked back home quickly, excited to start her own adventure.

"I so proud of ya! I even had Brock come!" Said Misty upon seeing her arrival.

"Really?"Asked Choco happily.

She LOVED Brock's cooking. It was better then what her mom made.Which no one knew exactly what it was.

"Hey there Strawberry, what going on?" Said Brock as he walked to the door.

"I'm going to be a Dragon Master!" Replied Choco.

"Pika, pika!" Said Pikachu hopping down the stairs with her favorite blue backpack in his hands.

"Thank you Pika!" Said Choco as she looked inside.

Everything was packed, including some of Brock's famous rice balls.

"Thanks so much Brock! I love your cooking!" Said Choco.

"You should get going now." Said Ash from behind.

"DAD! When did you come?" Asked Choco.

"Vee!" Chirped Ichigo.

"I just woke up, thanks to some certain people." He said.

"Well, I guess Dad's right, I better get going." Said Choco and Misty hugged her tightly and gave a million instructions like calling them at every PokeCenter, to be careful of wild pokemon, etc.

"Ok! Bye!" Said Choco waving and taking out her PokeNav.

Now the PokeNavs were more advanced and had a PokeDex in them so you wouldn't need to carry around two things. Route 1 was easy to navigate and short so she got to the next city by nightfall with a couple battles along the way.

Deciding to take a rest at the PokeCenter, she booked a room and got into bed. It was nice and comfy with Ichigo slept right next to her hands. The next morning, Choco woke up and looked at the clock. It said 8:30. Pretty early to wake up alone.

Choco shook Ichigo slightly and it hopped onto her shoulder as she headed towards the cafeteria to grab a bite. The whole cafeteria was almost empty and there was barely any foods left.

"Hey, you must be a pretty new trainer." Said a voice and she turned to see a boy about her age sitting at a table with a Jolteon.

"Yeah, how do you know?" Said Choco grabbing some food and sittin down at his table.

"All experienced trainers know that you need to get up early to get the good foods." He said and stopped himself,

"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Sean(AN: Pronounced Shawn) Birch and that is Thunder." He said and his Jolteon gave a friendly growl.

"I'm Choco Ketchum, but most people call me Starwberry.I just started my journey yesterday and my starter pokemon is Ichigo." Said Choco pointing to her Eevee.


	2. Ghosts

"YOU' RE Professor Birch's son?"

"YOU' RE Ash Ketchum's daughter?"

Ichigo looked up at her trainer and yipped quietly and Choco calmed down, well, a bit.

"So you're going to be studying some things for him?" Asked Choco.

"Yeah, I want to be the best researcher ever." He said.

"I wanna be a pokemon master."

Long silence. Thunder said something to Ichigo and Ichigo nodded. Thunder then turned towards Sean and growled something.

"So, um... do you want to travel together...?" He asked uncertainly.

A yip from Ichigo.

"I believe the pokemon have decided." Said Choco laughing.

"Great." Said Sean, his face showing relief.

"Can I see your other pokemon?" Said Choco curiously.

Sean smirked,

"It would be no fun just showing them to you. How 'bout a battle?"

"Fine with me, my pokemon need a stretch anyways. 3-3 since I don't have any other ones?" Said Choco cleaning up her place and standing up to go outside.

Sean was already packed up and he followed her to a big opening.

"Ok, Go Aeroblaze!" Said Sean as a large lizard pokemon took Sean's side.

Quickly, Choco's PokeNav identified it as Charizard, a flying fire type (Pokedex entries on the bottom if interested).

"Go Bagel!"

A Shelgon appeared on Choco's side of the field. It had probably evolved from a Bagon and had quite a lot of training, probably with wild pokemon.

"Aeroblaze, Flame Thrower!"

"Bagel, use Rollout to protect yourself!" Called Choco.

Bagel's body hardened itself and started to roll towards Aeroblaze at a speed most Shelgons didn't even dream of reaching, making a direct contact with Aeroblaze's stomach. Despite of the pain, the large lizard launched out a impressive blast of fire also hitting Begal head on, but with the hardened body and a type disadvantage, Bagel barely took any damage and hit Aeroblaze again, harder this time, causing it to roar in pain.

"Areoblaze, Dragon Rage!"

Aeroblaze's mouth opened and it let out a huge blast and in its position, another critical hit to Bagel, making it stop momentarily.

"Now, Bagel, Rain Dance." Said Choco and a dark cloud surrounded the field, making Areoblaze take a step back from being wet.

"Aeroblaze, don't worry about it, use Wing Attack!"

Aeroblaze let out its huge wings and flapped up into the sky.

"Bagel, protect at will!" Said Choco.

She knew Aeroblaze couldn't stand the rainy weather for long. She just didn't know how long. Bagel closed its eyes and listened for any changes in the air current. Suddenly, it opened its eyes and a green shield surrounded its body as Aeroblaze was sent back with recoil.

"Aeroblaze, Dragon Breath!"

"Bagel, Hydro Pump!"

A green and blue blast met each other in the middle of the battlefield, both very strong until Aeroblaze was winning.

Choco's fists tightened. Sean was a great pokemon trainer, probably expected out a professors son.

"Bagel, Rock Slide!"

Bagel, even though surprised at his trainer's command, let out a roar and rocks fell onto Aeroblaze just at Bagel was hit with the Dragon Breath, both pokemon taking heavy damage but Aeroblaze had taken too much, and fainted.

"Nice try Aeroblaze, go Snowy!"

A Snorunt appeared on Sean's side of the field. Normally, he wouldn't bother to pick type advantages but Shelgons weren't 'normally' that quick, or that strong.

"Alright Bagel! Let's try a Fire Blast!"

"Snowy, dodge, then use Powder Snow!"

Bagel let out an attack of a HUGE burst of flames, too big for Snowy to dodge and got burned but it also let out its attack. As the attack drew nearer, white light surrounded Bagel that reflected attack and...

Bagel evolved into a Salamance.

"Bagel, that was great!" Said Choco running up to her pokemon and giving it a huge hug,

Sean cleared his throat.

"Sorry, can you keep going Bagel?" Asked Choco and her pokemon gave a grunt.

Snowy was already burned and it was taking serious damage from it. All Bagel needed was a time to attack, but Bagel was also tired out from the last battle, giving it minimum strength.

"Bagel, Flame Thrower!"

"Snowy, dodge, then use Blizzard!"

Snowy's small size dodged the attack and a devestating Blizzard froze Bagel, ending the second match.

"Bagel, you were great, now, go Crystal!"

This time, a majestic Dragonair with sparkling crystals took Bagel's place.

"Snowy, Blizzard again!"

"Now Crystal, Flame Thrower!"

The flames immediately vaporized the snow and hit Snowy dead on. It recoiled to the head and to its burn, going down onto its 'hands' (or those arm things).

"While its down, use Fire Blast!"

Again, Snowy was too slow to dodge and was critically damaged, causing it to faint. This time, Sean was the one to grip his pokebelt with anxiousty and finally released a pokemon.The pokemon Choco never, ever wanted to see again. Crystal growled at the pokemon hated so much.The Misdreavus. Not just any Misdreavus, it was that Misdreavus, froma long time ago.

--------------------Flashback----------------

_Five year old Choco Ketchum was walking back from Pokemon school, passing through Viridian Forest. Just then, a hoot of a Hoot-Hoot alerted her ears as the trees suddenly became real and began walking towards her. Choco ducked as one swung its branch and laughter could be heard. Reaching for her pokebelt, Choco pulled out a pokeball and threw it out. A small Dratini popped out, still weak. A Misdreavus came out of nowhere and damaged the little dragon so badly when suddenly a roar of a Charmander scared it away and Choco ran home quickly with her Dratini in her arms._

_------------------------_End Flashback--------------

Choco took a deep breath and called out her attack:

"Crystal, Dragonbreath."

"Misdreavus, Night Shade!" Shouted Sean and and the ghost pokemon launched its attack at command, but not before Crystal's Dragonbreath hit.

"Now Crystal, Iron Tail!"

"Misdreavus, don't worry about it." Said Sean confidently.

A bit too confidently as Crystal approached with a shining tail and was about to hit Misdreavus when:

"Now, change to Hyper Beam, Crystal!"

Crystal stopped its attack mid-way and its close distance to Misdreavus gave it a clear shot. A huge orange beam came out of Crystal's mouth and hit Misdreavus in the head, severely damaging it and causing the ghost pokemon to faint.

"Misdreavus, return." Said Sean , slightly disappointed, but his expression quickly changed when he saw Choco's position.

Choco was down on her knees, her Dragonair and Eevee trying to comfort her, even Thunder ran over to see what was wrong.

"Choco?" He asked uncertainly.

"That's the Misdreavus." She said slowly as even Ichigo's and Thunder's ears perked up.

Choco took a shaky breath and explained it all. And that was the reason that she hated Misdreavus.

"Jolt?" Asked Thunder.

"Hey, sorry Choco, I didn't know." Said Sean as he put a hand onto Choco's shoulder.

"It's ok." She said biting her lip and smiling slightly.

She returned Crystal and walked back to the PokeCenter.

"Well, are we going or not?" She called back with her usual smile and the pokemon followed, soon Sean did too.

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Pokedex Entries _(taken from LeafGreen):_  
Charizard: Its wings bring it to an altitude of 4,600 ft. It blows out fire at very high temperatures.

Misdreavus: It likes playing mischivious tricks such as screaming and wailing to startle people at night.

Snorunt:It is said a house visited by a Snorunt with prosper. It can withstand cold up to minus1,500 degrees fahrenheit.

Shelgon: Its armored body makes all attacks bounce off. The armor is too tough, however, making it heavy and somewhat sluggish.

Salamance: I becomes uncontrolable when enraged. It destroys everything in its path.

Dragonair: A mystical pokemon that exudes a gentle aura. Has ability to change climate conditions.

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Well? How is it? Good? Bad? PLZ REVIEW!


	3. A new Team

"Where are we now?" Said Choco for the millionth time.

Viridian Forest didn't look so big, that is, until you walked through it.

"Almost, we should be out in about ten minutes." Came Sean's reply as he stared into a map.

"You said that five minutes ago." Complained Choco.

"You guys are a cute couple!"Called a man dressed in a green suit.

"U-Um, we're not a couple." Said Choco, slightly blushing.

"Whatever, anyways, have you seen a Shroomish? I completely adore that pokemon!" He said excitedly.

"Sorry, we haven't seen anything except for a bunch of bug pokemon." Said Sean.

"Hey you! How could you be standing here talking to a couple? I was waiting in the rain to ambush you! Now hand over those Silph Paperwork." Shouted another person jumping from the bushes soaking wet and dressed in black with a 'W'on his shirt.

"Eek, help me! You guys must be trainers! Please help me!" Said the man giving Choco and Sean a slight push.

"Aren't these people part of Team... um... what was there name?" Asked Choco.

"Team Rocket. But I thought they were only in Johto and Kanto, rarely are there members in the Hoenn region." Said Sean.

"Guess again kid,Team Rocket broke up and now a new team, Team Wind, is the main popularitity. I heard the the boss was really strong so I joined and got a bunch of strong pokemon. We only have to look for a ... what was it? A green dragon I think... Forget I said anything, let's battle." Said the man toying with two pokeballs before throwing them up.

A Salamance and a Milotic were released and Choco's eyes bulged. Was thatMilotic glowing? Sean's shout snapped her out of her thoughts. Must have just been a trick of light.

"Go Snowy!"

"Ichigo, let's go!"

Choco's Eevee hopped into the field followed shortly by a red light next to it as Snowy took its side of the field.

"Ichigo, Quick Attack!"

Sean looked at Choco as if she was crazy. If she had beaten him in a pokemon battle, at least she knew more then to send a weak attack, let alone not call which pokemon to call the attack on. Suddenly, he realized what she was aiming for.

"Snowy, Blizzard!"

The grunt thought that Sean was aiming for Milotic, told it to dodge, and it did, but was hit straight in the stomach with a Quick Attack, deadly critical hit that should have done lots of damage but it didn't, in which Choco noticed but Sean didn't. Obviously this grunt was used to battling double battles because he forgot about Salamance until its roar of pain as an icy wind made contact with its body, another critical hit, and this time, Salamance fainted.

"Snowy, Ice Beam on Milotic!"

"Hydro Pump on that Eevee, Milotic!"

"Ichigo, Double Team!"

Suddenly, there was two Ichigos, no three, no four, then there was Ichigos surrounding Milotic, making the poor pokemon confused and unprepared for the Ice Beam that hit it but it didn't even blick.

"Ichigo, Agility!"

The replicas disappearedIchigo ran full speed ahead and suddenly disappeared.

"Now Snowy! Use another Ice Beam!"

Miloticstill looking for Ichigo, was hit full force but it didn't even blink, once again. This time, Choco could almost swear it was glowing brighter. Sean noticed something unusual about aWater pokemon being hit twice, both critical hits, and not even look hurt. Both pokemon on their side were panting as they returned their side of the field but Milotic looked as bright as before.

"Sean? What that suppose to happen?" Asked Choco.

Sean remained silent.

The grunt laughed,

"I told you these pokemon were strong. And you didn't believe me."

"Ichigo, Bite!"

"Snowy, Toxic!"

Before the grunt had time to react, Ichigo's teeth sunk into Milotic's smooth body while a purple sludge hit the pokemon, poisoning it. Finally, the water pokemon started showing signs of weakness as it 's head crashed onto the ground.

"Ichigo, Take Down!"

"Snowy, Blizzard!"

The attacks hit while the pokemon was down and it fainted. Finally.

The grunt returned his pokemon and mumbled before leaving,

"The boss told me this was easy, not this hard, he didn't even tell me there was a battle included."

"Thank you so much for saving me! I'm sorry to make this a barden for you but could you deliver this to a friend of mine, he's a pokemon researcher and my boss of the Silph Co. wanted him to see this Dragon Ball. He's name is Professor Oak." Said the person in the green suit as he took out a green and yellow pokeball.

The top was green and the bottom was yellow, much like a pokeball except for the color and the big, yellow'R' and the wierd markings of yellow on the top.

"Also, as my appriciation of the rescue, I'll give you this egg that I found laying over there. You will take care of it right?" He said as he held out an egg.

"Thank you, I'll deliver this to the professor." Said Choco as she took the egg and was about to grab the pokeball when it burned her fingers and she immediately dropped it.

"Choco?" Asked Sean as he kneeled down next to her and picked up the ball.

"I-It burned me." She said stuttering.

"It's fine for me." Said Sean pocketing the ball.

Long silence.

"I guess we should get going." Said Sean.

The Silph researcher nodded and headed on his way with a quick good-bye.

"Well, we'll just have to fly back." Said Sean.

"I don't have a pokemon that knows fly." Replied Choco sheepishly.

"You can ride Aeroblaze with me." He said as he took out a pokeball and released the huge lizard pokemon.

"Step on first, then I'll make sure you don't fall off." Said Sean seeing confusion in Choco's eyes.

Choco sat on top of Aeroblaze, armsaround around its soft neck as Sean whispered 'Pallet Lab' into Aeroblaze's ear and climbed on after Choco. He's arms wrapped around her small waist and Choco blushed slightly as Aeroblaze took the skies.

A few minutes later, they stepped into the familiar lab of Professor Oak.

"Professor?" Choco's voice echoed along the walls of the empty lab.

"Strawberry." Came a snide voice Choco could recognize anywhere.


	4. The fight

"Kathy." Muttered Choco under her breath as her life-long rival appeared right before her eyes.

"Hey Cutie." She said and walked towards Sean, the only person there who had no clue what was going on.

"Leave him alone." Came Choco's reply through clenched teeth but was ignored.

"What are you doing with such a jerk like her? Come join me." Said Kathy batting her eyelashes.

Both Choco and Sean wanted to puke.

"I said LEAVE HIM ALONE." Said Choco.

Sean had never seen Choco so mad and took one step back.

"Aw, little Strawberry is jealous..." Said Kathy smirking.

"I am not jealous."Replied Choco.

A yip from Ichigo and Thunder.

"Little Strawberry is left out." Cooed Kathy again.

"I am not jealous." Repeated Choco, just louder this time.

"Whatever, come on, let's ditch this dork and find a place to eat." Said Kathy grabbing Sean's elbow.

Ichigo growled as Thunder's body began to spark, waiting for the command to attack.(AN: I believe I forgot to include Thunder last chappie, sorry!)

Choco turned to Sean, the confusion and hurt showed in her eyes as she waited for his reply. He hated seeing her like that, especially knowing he caused it. Hearing nothing, she pushed past him and out the door. Ichigo followed as well as Thunder, who casted an unapproving glance at its master.

"Choco!" He shouted as he tore out of Kathy's grasp and rushed to find his friend. Kathy's glance followed him out of the door,

"I will get you, somehow." She said with a smirk and disappeared into the lab.

--------------------------------

"Sir, we have reported that the Silph Paperwork was not retrieved but not only that, he lost the egg.The grunt failed his mission." Said one man bowing down to the back of a chair in which the boss sat.

"Yes, I know, bring him in." Said the boss turning the chair around, the darkness of the room hiding his face.

Two people shoved the grunt in.

"I heard the mission failed because you were stopped by two kids?" Questioned the boss.

"Yes sir."

"I GAVE YOU ONE OF THE STRONGEST POKEMON ON MY TEAM AND YOU FAILED?" Shouted the boss.

Immediately the grunt went down to his knees.

"I'm sorry sir, won't happen again. Please give me one more chance."

"It better not. Fine, one more time, I heard a girl and a boy stopped you? Just steal back the egg from the girl. She is alone right now, hurry up. If you fail one more time, don't expect me to let you off so easily." Said the boss and the grunt immediately scurried out the door without even questioning how the boss knew everything.

Somehow on every mission, the boss could predict what was going to happen, and it always worked. People had tried to question him but, well, let's just say they didn't have a very merry life.

---------------------------------------

"Vee? Eevee, vee vee._Choco? Are you ok?_" Said Ichigo again.

Choco had finally stopped running, out of breath, and they were next to some sort or river. Now she was hugging her knees and crying. She was like that for ten minutes already and the pokemon were getting worried.

"Jolt, te on teon_.You know he didn't mean it, right?"_ Said Thunder.

Her head slightly bobbled, just slightly.

"Eevee, vee ee eevee._Come on, let's go back._" Said Ichigo after a while.

Choco looked up for the first time in minutes and was about to stand up when an explosion blew up the place just down the hill from where she was sitting. Following instint, she ran into the opposite direction, crashing into someone. Looking up, she saw it was the grunt that had tried to steal the papers of Silph Co.

"Well that made the job easier. I'll take this thank you very much." Said the grunt as he grabbed the egg out of Choco's arms and took off into a jet.

"Hey! That's mine!" Shouted Choco as she reached for her pokeballs and let out the pokemon.

Crystal and Bagel appeared by their master's side and waited for a command.

"Get back that egg." Said Choco.

Bagel took flight and launched a huge Flamethrower at the plane, causing it to rock back and forth while Crystal let out an Aurora Beam, hitting one of the jet's engine's making the plane come crashing down, the egg too, was falling.

"Bagel, I need you to launch Ichigo and Thunder into the air, then while you two are in the air, try to grab the egg. Afterwards, Crystal, Bagel, you guys have to get them onto the ground, Got it?" Said Choco.

All except Thunder nodded.Her pokemon had known Choco as a high risk, high return person so they tried their best everytime. Thunder was new to that policy.

"Arroh. _She won't let you fall you know._" Said Bagel as he waited for Thunder to climb onto his back.

Thunder hesitated.

"Dra, dragon dra air gon, air gon gon air. _That battle we had with your trainer, she totally changed our battle plan to one we never even practiced, but we still did it_." Said Crystal as she nudged Thunder.

Thunder climbed up slowly and Bagel took flight and flew under the egg, letting go of the two pokemon and letting them catch up with the egg. That was when Crystal and Bagel climbed into the air and caught the two pokemon with the egg.

"Alright! You guys did it!" Cheered Choco as the non-flying let go of the egg and Choco picked it up gently.

"Why you little...Battle me for the egg!" Said the grunt as he released a pokeball.

A Glalie appeared and roared into the quiet hillside.

_Shoot, this guy knows my team!_

"Thunder, can you go?" Asked Choco uncertainly.

She had already scared the poor eevee evloution into getting the egg, now she wanted him to battle, but Thunder stepped confidently onto the field.

_Well, now I have to guess what attacks it knows._

"Glalie, use Blizzard!"

"Thunder, dodge, then use Thunderbolt!"

Thunder dodge the upcoming icy wind and fired a big spark of electricity at the ice pokemon, paralyzing it.

"Now, Send it a Thunder Attack!"

Thunder jumped into the air and let out a roar. Storm clouds brewed up and flashes of lightning stuck Glalie with huge force but its paralyzation made it unable to dodge.

---------------------------

"Choco!" Shouted Sean again, following his friend's trail onto a nearby hill.

"Now, send it a Thunder Attack!" Called a voice, unmistaking Choco's.

Suddenly a roar that Sean could have sworn was his pokemon and thunder clouds filled the area. Quickly following the voice, he found his friend battling that grunt all by herself, and apparently, Thunder was battling a Glalie, but after the Thunder Attack, Glalie seemed more hurt then it should have been. That's when he realized it was paralyzed.

"Thunder, Iron Tail!" He shouted, hoping for a critical hit.

It worked, for two reasons.

One: The grunt was too surprised by his voice to bother telling his pokemon to dodge, and Choco was surprised enough to keep her from arguing with his choice.

Two: Thunder was so happy his master was back that he accidentally sent another huge lightning bolt instead, but it knocked out Glalie just the same.

The grunt muttered something before scrampering to his feet and running away, saying something was wrong with his boss' prediction. Sean turned to Choco,

"I'm sorry."

Choco's eyes watered as she ran torwards him and clinging to his shirt, face nuzzled into his chest crying as Sean stroked her hair silently. The pokemon looked at each other and smiled, so it was better then they expected. As much as they hated to break this up, they had to get going back to the lab and give Professor Oak the Dragon Ball.

"Professor?" Asked Choco for the second time that day.

This time the professor came out.

"Boyfriend?" He asked raising his eyesbrows at Sean.

"Uh, no, we're just friends." Said Seanas hehanded him the Dragon Ball.

"Someone told us to give you this to study." He said.

"Yes, yes, Silph's president called a while ago." Said the professor examining the ball.

"Well, just leave it here and get going. I'll call you if I have any news." Said Professor Oak as the two walked out with a quick good-bye.

Sean let out Aeroblaze as he climbed on first to control Aeroblaze's flying in the darkness of the night and Choco held onto his waist. Aeroblaze again took off into the night sky. Soon, Sean felt weight against his shoulder. Choco had fallen asleep.


	5. Getting out of the forest

Sorry for the confusion, but this story takes place in Kanto, I was just using some things from Emerald. -Pokebunny

* * *

The next morning, Choco woke up in something soft and warm. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she realized it must be pretty early since the smell of the sweet forest around her were fresh with morning dew. She inside a green sleeping bag. She didn't remember getting out her sleeping bag, besides, her sleeping bag was blue. Slipping out if the sleeping bag, she turned to see Aeroblaze lying down and next to him was Sean, laying on the cold ground, fast asleep. 

_Ack! I must have fallen asleep last night! We landed and he gave me his sleeping bag so he had to sleep on the ground! It's all my fault! _Thought Choco.

"Vee?" Came Ichigo's grogoly voice with sleep in it.

The little dog pokemon had been awakened by Choco stepping on some cracked leaves, making a slight crakling into the quiet forest.

"No, I'm ok, get some sleep, tomorrow's our first gym battle." Said Choco as Ichigo curled up into a small ball, tail wrapped around its little body.

Choco dug into her backpack. Where was that blanket that her grandma always packed her in case she needed it? Digging through a couple extra items, she finally found the blanket and covered Sean with it, muttereing a 'thank you'. Sean shifted slightly to get comfortable but remained asleep.

Breathing in more of the fresh scent, she headed onto the path to look for some berries. Gathering some Pecha Berries and Oran Berries, she was about to head back when a twig snapped from the bush next to her. Alert, she put the berries on the ground and walked towards the sound. A green head stuck out of the bush, looked around and saw the berries. Taking out her PokeDex, Dexter reconized it as a Lavitar, a small baby one.Walking out of the bushes, it started towards the berries, eating one, then another.

Chocowaited a while to make sure the pokemon was alone. No need for a rushing Tyranitar chashing them at this time of the day. No sound. Choco walked back to the berries. The Lavitar, sensing the human, was about to run away.

"Come on, I won't hurt you." Said Choco grabbing a berry and holding it out to the pokemon.

The Lavitar inched closer, hungry for food.

"Really." Said Choco.

The Lavitar walked to Choco's hand and took the berry, stuffing the blue juice into is mouth. It was so cute Choco had to keep herself from hugging the poor baby pokemon and squeezing it to death.

"What happened to you parents?" Asked Choco as she fed it another berry.

The Larvitar shrugged and stopped eating. Its face turned towards Choco as it picked up a stick. Walking to a place with some wet mud, it started to draw something. Choco followed, watching the rocky skin pokemon try to write something, failing horribly. It gave up after a while and started blowing, occasionly stopping, pointed to itself. Choco raised and eyebrow.

Larvitar sighed and tried again.

"Air?"

Larvitar shook its head.

"Wind?"

Larvitar finally nodded.

"Team Wind?" Asked Choco.

Another nod.

"They took your parents?"

Shake of a head. Larvitar made a fist and hit its belly, falling backwards and laying still.

"They kill your parents?" Asked Choco, eyes suddenly becoming bigger.

Larvitar nodded, looking down at the ground. Anger and hatred boiled inside Choco. Suddenly, an idea popped up.

"Why don't you travel with me?" She asked.

The Larvitar looked at Choco strangely. Making a fist, it started punching the air.

"Don't you have to fight?" Asked Choco, trying to understand the pokemon.

It nodded.Choco restrained from giggling. The little guy wasn't so good at writing and she couldn't under stand its talking, but it sure knew how to act.

"Not if you don't want to." Said Choco patting the baby pokemon's head.

Larvitar nodded and with its mouth, grabbed a pokeball off of Choco's pokebeltand before Choco could stop it, it pressed the release button and Crystal came out of its pokeball, looking at Choco in confusion. Larvitar, scared of the light and of the weird pokemon in front of it, hid behing Choco.

"Here, try this pokeball." Said Choco, handing the little green pokemon and empty one.

Taking a deep breath, it pushed the release button and disappeared in a flash of light. The pokeball rocked once, twice, three times, and at last, the ping meant that Larvitar was caught.

"Alright! I caught a Larvitar!" Shouted Choco happily and released the pokemon from its pokeball.

Larvitar was back at Choco's side, hugging its new master's jeans, trying to hide from the pokemon in front of it.

"I'll name you Dusty, ok?" Asked Choco bending down to the pokemon's eye level.

Dusty nodded happily. Crystal looked at Choco for and explaination.

"Let mefirst get some berries." Said Choco as she returned Crystal.

Choco triedto return Dusty, but it shook its head, so Choco left it out to help find some berries. With its sensitive nose, it quickly found a Lum Berry bush. Picking some for the pokemon, Choco also found many more Oran Berries and Pecha Berries for an extra guest and in case of emergency, left some in her pouch.

----------------------------

Sean woke up quite a while after Choco and Aeroblaze was already awake. Noticing something on top of him, he recognized Choco's blanket on top of him. So it wasn't a dream.Thinking back,Choco had put something on him and whispered thankyou. Turning to his sleeping bag, he saw that it was empty. Aeroblaze handed him a note taped to it.

_Sean,_

_I'll be back, just went to gather some berries! HA! I woke up earlier then you! Anyways, wait for me!_

_Choco_

Sean almost smiled. Choco waking up early was not something that happened everyday. Cleaning his things back up, he woke up Ichigo, who was muttering in its sleepsomething about a Pecha Berry coming to life, and it looked around for Choco. Rubbing sleep out of its eyes, it stared at Sean for some help.

_Ichigo looks almost exactly like Choco when it does that._

That's when he remembered Choco's nickname.

------------Flashback---------------

_"I'm Sean Birch, and this is my starter, Thunder." _

_"I'm Choco Ketchum, but most people just call me Strawberry, and this is my starter Ichigo."_

_--------------_

_A Thundershock hit Totidile with incredible speed, making the water pokemon faint._

_"Dad! It's not fair! That was a type advantage!" Shouted nine-year-old Sean._

_"That's what people do when they battle, they use a type advantage, making the opponent have a slimmer chance of winning." Said Professor Birch._

_"I give up! Those pokemon are too strong!" Said Sean as he returned his fallen partner with a word of thanks._

_"Pokemon grow to be like their trainers, that would only make your pokemon give up earlier."_

_--------------_End Flashback-------------

"I'm back!" Shouted Choco's voice, snapping the train of thought in his mind.

Turning to greet Choco, he noticed a small Larvitar at her feet, walking contently while stuffing its mouth with berries.

"You caught a Larvitar?" Asked Sean amazed.

Larvitars were rarely seen in Johto, and almost impossible to find in Kanto.

"Yup! This little guy is named Dusty!" Said Choco petting Dusty on the head.

Dusty grabbed Choco's pant leg, hiding itself from the new person.

"Come on Dusty, that's Sean, over there is Ichigo" pointing to Ichigo "Aeroblaze,"Aeroblaze gave a roar"and that's Thunder." Said Choco.

Dusty nodded slightly while giving a small noise.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce you to my pokemon!" Said Sean as hetook out his pokeballs.

Aeroblaze huffed a small puff of smoke out of its nose as if smirking.

"Everyone out!"

A Misdreavus, Snorunt, Xatu, Feraligatr came out. Feraligatr growled at Choco as Choco inched back a step, Larvitar in her arms from fright.

"Hehe, forgot Tidal didn't like guests." Said Sean scratching the back of his neck.(Like what Ash does)

He whispered soothing words to his pokemon and it relaxed a bit, still shooting Choco glares.

"This is Misdreavus, Snowy, you have met those two. That is Psy, my Xatu, and this is Tidal, my Feraligatr." Said Sean.

"Ok, there is Crystal, and Bagel, in which you have met, and then I have Sky, my Altaria. Except for Ichigo and Dusty that egg, my dad gave the rest tome; a dratini, now Crystal, a Bagon, Bagel, and a Swablu, now Sky." Said Choco.

"That egg, I don't think it hatches into a regular pokemon, I think its legendary because that didn't show up in any of the pokemon books that I've read before, not even dad, who I just called last night, can recognize it." Said Sean.

Choco looked at her egg, "Well, whatever it is, I'm going to keep it!"

Sky's stomach rumbled as the rest turned to face the cotton pokemon and it colored slightly.

Sean laughed, "I think we're all hungry."

Choco spread out the berries that she picked (Good for her, she picked extra) and the pokemon ate a few along with Choco and Sean and soon, the berries were finished.

After breakfast, all the pokemon were returned except for Thunder, Ichigo, and Dusty, who decided to copy Ichigo and travel without a pokeball. Along the whole way, the three pokemon chatted with Dusty leading the way and Sean was telling Choco about the Hoenn Region. Within a short while, they had arrived in Pewter Cityand had let Nurse Joy heal their pokemon, both sat down on the couch, waiting.

----------------The next part isn't really important, read if you like or this is the end of the chapter---------------------

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()Pokemon Convesation Traslated()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"How did they meet?" Asked Sky suddenly.

"Oh, Sean was eating at the PokeCenter of Viridian and then Choco was coming down with Ichigo. I could almost swear he was staring at her." Said Thunder.

"And then he said something like experienced trainers know that they should get up early to get the cafeteria food andthen Choco joined him eating and then he asked to travel with us. After that they battled and Choco won!" Continued Ichigo proudly saying the last part.

"HE asked to join Choco?" "Choco beat HIM in a pokemon battle?" Asked all of Sean's pokemon except for Thunder.

"Well, I believe there is always something new everyday..." Said Psy, calmly.

"Is that new?" Asked Dusty innocently.

"Hey, My trainer is the Hoenn League Champion for heaven sake. He had almost every single girl going after him and he's ignored all of them.He hadn't been beaten since... well for a long time and there he is, beaten by a new trainer and traveling with a girl that he asked!" Exploded Tidal.

"Shhhh!"Hushed Crystal.

The pokemon turned around to see the confused faces of Sean and Choco stareing at the group of pokemon from the sudden outburst. They weren't the only ones, the whole PokeCenter of people were practically stareing at them. Tidal's face colored.

"So, they've been together for about three days if the battle was the first day." Said Bagel thoughtfully.

"You know, a bunch of people have asked Choco out because of the fame of her mom, the water pokemon master, and her dad, the pokemon master,but she was never really into it and just said no." Said Sky.

"Did you see what happened from yesterday to this morning?" Asked Ichigo excitedly.

All pokemon except Thunder gave Ichigo a look that said 'we just got out an hour ago'.

"Yesterday, they had a fight andChocothought Sean was going to stayat the lab so she ran off towards Pallet River

( AN:I know there might not be such place but now there is)

and then she was almost caught by a Team Wind member. Sean rescued her though and the last part was so fluffy." Said Ichigo.

"Choco was crying into Sean's chest. Then we left for Pewter City but Aeroblaze didn't have night vision and it was too dark to see so we stopped in a forest and that's when he saw that Choco was asleep and so he took out his sleeping bag and gave it to her. And then this morning, Choco thought he was cold so she gave him her extra blanket." Finished Thunder.

"You were awake?" Asked Ichigo.

"Yup, wouldn't miss this for the world." Said Thunder smirking.

Long silence followed.

"I don't believe you guys." Said Misdreavus after a while of silence.

"Its your turn now." Said a Chansey walking over to the as Nurse Joy put them inside pokeballs and got them healed.

------------------Now its the end of the chapter, thanx everyonefor reading this extra---------------------

It was random, yes I know,and it just popped into my mind while writing beginning. If you aren't so sure what happened, you might want to read the extra or just review and with any questions, I'll reply. -Pokebunny


	6. Against Hikori, Pewter gym leader

"Your pokemon are healed." Said Nurse Joy.

Both trainers got up from the couch to grab their pokemon.

"The gym here uses Rock pokemon, I would advise some water or grass pokemon against it." Continued Nurse Joy.

Choco nodded and yawned. With a thank you,she went to the room they had booked. Sean followed after letting out his pokemon and by the time he had gotten to the room, Choco was already in bed with her pokemon out and sleeping near her. He got into the bed across the room and fell asleep quickly.

The next morning arrived quickly and the two climbed out of bed after being woken up by a bunch of eager pokemon. After cleaning up and eating breakfast, they finally went to the gym. Or rather, the pokemon finally got impatient and pushed the two towards the gym. Either one is true.

"We're here to challenge the gym leader." Said Sean to the man waiting at the door.

The man grunt and walked in, soon to be followed by the two kids. Leading them to a huge stadium, amaybe fifteen year old kid with spiky hair stood on the other.

"Strawberry! You finally came! Dad said you were coming so I was waiting!" Shouted the kid.

"Hey Hikori!" Shouted Choco back running up and hugging the older male.

"Whoa, pry off kid, you came for a gym battle, not to squeeze me to death." Said Hikori, mock-glaring at his younger friend.

Sean raised an eyebrow at the two.

"Oh, I forgot! This is Sean Birch, he's traveling with me right now." Said Choco running back and giving Sean a slight push towards Hikori.

"Nice to meet you." Said Hikori putting out his hand.

"Same here." Said Sean, shaking his hand.

"Vee, eevee, vee eevee." Said Ichigo yipping.

"Aha! Yeah! We should get onto the gym battle." Said Choco.

The two nodded and positioned themselves on the field.

"A double battle between Hikori, Pewter gym leader, and Sean Birch and Choco Ketchum will now begin. The gym leader will use four pokemon, each of the challengers can use two. Challengers are allowed to substitite while the gym leader cannot." Said the judge waving up a flag.

"Geodude, Onix, Go!" Shouted Hikori, letting out two pokemon from their pokeballs.

"Go Tidal!" A huge Feraligatr took the field as Hikori looked at the pokemon looming before his small Geodude, causing the pokemon to shiver slightly with fright.

"Let's go Bagel!" Ichigo whimpered something about not getting picked, but it was reassured by Thunder, saying its master wasn't going to use it against some ground or rock type because of the disadvantage.

Bagel roared, taking on the field, meeting Onix's eye level while in the air, almost making the sturdy rock/ground pokemon raise an eyebrow, if that is possible.

"Geodude, Onix, Double Edge."

Both pokemon glowed silver before charging at the two pokemon in front of them.

"Bagel, Dodge, then use Steel Wing on Onix!" Shouted Choco as the huge Dragon Pokemon took the skies.

"Tidal, Water Gun on Geodude!"

Tidal blasted a huge steam of water at the small rock pokemon but the pokemon just dodged it and kept charging, eventually raming into Tidal, who stepped back from the force, but the Geodude didn't take any recoil damage because of its ability. Meanwhile, Bagel had dodged Onix's Double Edge as its wings started to glow. Suddenly, it took a dip down towards the huge pokemon, its wings making a cut in the hard pokemon's shell as it winced from the type disadvantage.

"Onix, use Rock Slide on Bagel, Geodude, use Rollout if it comes to the ground." Commanded Hikori.

_Its either now, or never. _Thought Sean as he saw both pokemon unaware of any attack from Tidal, both focusing on Bagel.

"Choco, hold both pokemon down!" Said Sean to his partner.

Choco looked at him strangly but agreed anyways.

"Bagel, Stomp!"

Bagel flew up into the air and crashed down onto Onix before it could launch the attack. Geodude, following instructions, started rolling at high speed towards Bagel.

"Tidal, Surf!"

Tidal drew back a huge breath and released a big wave. Both pokemon still unaware of the wave coming towards them, neither did Hikori.

"Now, fly up Bagel!"

Bagel, at the last minute, flew up, leaving Geodude to hit Onix, making both pokemon jump back from the shock. Then they turned around and saw the huge wave right before them.

"You guys! Get out of there!" ShoutedHikori.

Geodude tried to run away, but was shot with Bagel's Dragonbreath, making it stop in its tracks, small electric sparks shot around its body. Onix was still shocked from Geodude's Rollout attack and was unable to move. The wave crashed down on the pokemon and when it subdued, both pokemon had fainted.

"Good try, now, go Steelix!"

Two huge Steelix appeared on the field, making the opponent's pokemon shiver with fright. Bagel was the first to shake it off, then Tidal followed the suit.

"Bagel, Fire Blast!"

Bagel launched a huge array of fire and shot it at the steel pokemon.

"Tidal, Surf!"

The elemental attacks clashed, making a huge burst of fire and water.

"Steelix, Defense Curl!" Said Hikori.

Steelix are slow and the attack was huge, so they were hit, but not a critical hit because they used defence curl, but each Steelix took a good amount of damage, making them tired. Both opposing pokemon were also tired from launching too many powerful attacks, but Tidal was on all four, trying to regain some strength.

"Steelix, Iron Tail on Tidal!"

Both Steelixs' tail glowed as they charged at a quite slow speed towards Tidal.

"Bagel, Flamethrower!"

Bagel's attack hit one of the Steelix, making it faint, but the other one kept going, raming its hard body against Tidal, causing the massive water pokemon to faint. Sean returned his pokemon with a word of thanks.

"Go Snowy!"

A small Snorunt looked up at its surroundings.One huge Steelix and Bagel.

"Snowy, Ice Beam!"

"Bagel, Flamethrower!"

The attacks hit the remaining Steelix and it fainted. Returning both of his pokemon, he walked up to the two and pulled out two pokemon badges, handing them to Sean and Choco.

"That was a great battle, not many pokemon have been able to beat Steelix." Said Hikori.

"Thanks." Said Sean.

"Did you call your mom and dad?" Asked Hikori to Choco.

Choco blinked.

"Oh shoot! I can't believe I forgot!" She shouted.

"You can use my phone." Said Hikori, smirking slightly at his friends forgetfulness.

"Thank you so much!" Said Choco running to the back of the gym.

Sean looked at Hikori,

"Does that happen very often?"

"You have no clue."


	7. Mission on Mt Moon

"Mom! I beat Hikori!" Said Choco into the videophone.

Misty beamed at the small child's innocence.

"That's great! We were about to head to Cerulean City, I miss my gym." Said Misty, dreaming of all her water pokemon.

"Hey Mist? Who is it?" Called Ash's voice from a distance.

"It's Strawberry!" Came the reply.

Choco heard a crash followed by Pikachu's yelp as Ash's face popped onto the screen.

"Hey there!"

"Dad! I beat Hikori!" Said Choco excitedly.

"Really? Did you use Bagel?" Asked Ash.

"Yup! And he won the battle for me!" Said Choco.

"You beat all four of his pokemon with Bagel?" Asked Ash.

"Um, no, I was traveling with a friend and so we just did a double battle." She said.

"Who's the friend?" Asked Misty as Ash's face was blocked out from the screen.

"Sean Birch." Said Choco.

"Oh, wasn't that Professor Birch's son? I remember the last we went to his lab and his son was there." Said Misty.

"When?" Asked Choco.

"Oh, that was when you were about three, I think he was five or something." Said Ash.

"Vee!"

"Jolt!"

"I need to go, the pokemon are getting impatient." Said Choco rolling her eyes.

"See ya soon." Said Misty and the phone clicked off.

Choco returned to where the pokemon were and they left the gym, healing their pokemon and heading off to the next destination, Cerulean City.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sir-"

"Yes, I know, just let him in."

Thegrunt was pushed in.

"HOW COULD YOU FAIL AGAIN!" Boomed the boss' voice.

"Sir, she borrowed HIS pokemon, the weakness of mine." Said theperson bowing down.

"Very well, Peter, you can borrow my team and try again, but this is your last chance. We have reported stories that Rayquaza has changed resting places, many people has seen it leave from Sky Pillar towards Kanto. There is some evidence that there is something to control this great beast and it will follow the source. You must retrieve the Ancient Stone, with our executive, Lee. The stone is our only lead, and bring it backfrom Mt. Moon, meanwhile, we will search for a user, a match with Rayquaza." Said the boss.

"Yes sir."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We've already been here." Said Choco, pointing to the marker in the stone.

They were on their way to Mt Moon but a sudden fog had blocked their vision of the road.

"I'm sure we're heading in the right direction." Said Sean as he stared at his PokeNav.

"Let's try going this way." Said Choco, pointing to a direction that they'd never bothered trying.

Walking on for a few minutes in the thick fog, Choco bumped into someone, almost making her drop Dusty.

"I'm sorry." Said the person reaching a hand out to help her up.

On closer inspection, she realized it was a boy with purplish hair, maybe about Sean's age, two years older then her.

"It's ok, the fog's pretty thick, hard to see what's in front of you." Said Choco, using his hand to get up.

"My name's Polarus, I'm a Psychic pokemon trainer." Said Polarus.

"I'm Sean, that's Choco, Thunder, Dusty, and Ichigo, nice to meet you." Said Sean pointing to each person or pokemon.

"By any chance, do you know the way to get to Mt Moon?" Asked Choco.

"Oh, of course! I know the way in and out like the back of my hand.I live right next to this mountain." He said and started leading them to a small path.

Soon, the big opening of Mt Moon loomed before the two.

"Well,I have to get going, my folks don't like it when I'm late!" Said Polarus, leaving the two behind.

"So we found the mountain, now how do we get through?" Asked Choco.

The mountain was dark, looking almost pitch black on a day like this. A noise of an airplane as it flew over the mountain filled their ears and shook the trees around them. Even in the fog, you could see the huge W painted on the side.

"Team Wind." Said Sean as Dusty growled.

"We better get going, maybe we can catch up to them and stop whatever their planing." Said Choco, letting out Bagel while Sean let out Aeroblaze.

"We're going to need you to light the way." Explained Sean to the confused pokemon.

They nodded and both let out a small ember, lighting the path. After walking in, they saw the tunnel spliting into three parts.

"Great, now which way." Said Choco, quite tired of going in circles.

More airplane noises from the left.

"We take that path." Said Choco rushing down the pathway with the rest of the team right behind her.

Finally after following the sound, they reached a somewhat bigger empty area where a bunch of people dressed in the green with a W on their shirts were gathered around a green gem. The two remained rather hidden, watching probably an exectutive pick it up, looked at it, and pocketed it. Telling his men to retreat, everyone gathered towards an exit with Choco jumped out of where they were hiding, the pokemon following.

"Give that back! That's an ancient stone, its not yours!" She shouted.

"Oh, little girl? What are you going to do about it?" Asked the executive.

"Thunder, use Thunderbolt!" She shouted.

On command, the Jolteon let out a huge electric attack but it fell short because of the distance.

"Mr. Lee, we must get going, the boss just called and told us to retreat, no matter what." Said a grunt bowing down.

"Yes, yes, I don't need a girl blocking the way of our dominiation." Said Lee as he walked out of the exit and jumped onto the ladder of the airplane they had seen earlier.

Choco ran towards the exit, trying to catch up with the airplane, but it quickly departed. Returning back to the group, she realized Thunder looking down in shame.

"Hey, don't worry about it, it wasn't your fault." Said Choco giving the pokemon a nice scratch begind its ears.

Thunder liked it and nudged closer while Sean gave a small frown.

"You're going to spoil him like that." He said mock-glaring at Choco.

Thunder gave him an innocent look and Sean sighed.

"Fine, fine, let's just first get out of here." He said walking towards the exit, followed shortly by everyone else.


	8. Cerulean City

Disclaimer: I do not know pokemon or anything related.(Thanx Shadow-Foxfolk)

* * *

"Hey, Strawberry?" 

The two had arrived in Cerulean City just awhile ago after camping out for the night after the adventure of Mt Moon. Now they were in the PokeCenter waiting for their pokemon to be healed.

"Yeah? Wait, Strawberry?" Asked Choco.

"Well, everyone calls you that, can't I?" Asked Sean.

"I guess."

"By the way,what do you mean that the thing Team Wind took was an ancient stone?" Asked Sean, voice full of curiousty.

"I-I don't know, it just suddenly popped into my head. And then there was something about Rayqua- something but now I can't remember anything." Said Choco.

"Rayquaza?" Asked Sean.

"Yeah! That's what it was."

"Rayquaza is a legendary pokemon. Its rarely seen by anyone and its in Hoenn, why would Team Wind be here if the pokemon's in Hoenn?" Asked Sean.

Before Sean could question her any farther, Nurse Joy interrupted them to give them their pokemon. Having nothing to do the whole day, they decided to just head towards the gym. Apon arriving, they noticed a sign on the door saying:'closed for the day.' Choco smirked and opened the door to the large, dark stadium. The door made a creaking noise as it opened and Daisy rushed towards the door.

"I'm sorry, we're closed for the day." She said but cut herself off when she realized who it was.

"Strawberry! We thought you'd take, like, forever to get here! Misty is, like, already waiting, like, with Ash and, like, hurry up and come in!" She beckoned.

"Coming?" Asked Choco turning to face her friend, who was standing at the door.

He nodded slightly and followed the two girls into the now brightened gym. The pokemon looked at each other and shrugged, deciding to follow and find out what would happen.

"STRAWBERRY CAME!" Shouted Daisy and, at once, there was a bunch of people rushing into the room.

"Oh my god! You've grown so much!" Squealed Lily hugging the living daylights out of Choco and Dusty, who was still in Choco's arms.

"Little Strawberry came back!" Shouted Violet, joining the hug.

It was Pikachu that sent the Thundershock, shocking the trio except for Dusty, who stood in the middle of the floor looking confused.

"I had a Larvitar once." Said Ash bending down to pet Dusty but it ran away and hid behind Sean and Thunder, who were standing by the corner, ignored.

"Oh, you must be Professor Birch's son. Um, I think I forgot your name..." Said Misty sweat-dropping and putting out her hand for a handshake

"I'm Sean, nice to meet you." Said Sean shaking the hand.

"Oh, that's so cute! Strawberry got a boyfriend!" Squealed Daisy, Violet, and Lily together.

"Ah, we're just friends." He said embarassed.

"Actually Aunties, we came for a gym battle." Said Choco, picking up Dusty and Ichigo.

The three sisters blinked.(AN: Three sisters are Violet, Lily, and Daisy. I know that Misty is also one of them but I really don't feel like typing the names everytime so bare with me here.)

"Oh, right!" Said Daisy embarassed as everyone but the three sisters sweat-dropped.

"Right this way." Said Violet, bringing the two to another room of the gym.

It looked newly installed with platforms for two people on each side.

"This time only Violet and Daisy are battling, I'll stay as ref." Said Lily.

"This is a battle between Choco Ketchum and Sean Birch against Violet and Daisy Waterflower. Each person may use two pokemon, only challengers may substitute, now, begin!"

"Ichigo, let's go!"

"Thunder, your turn!"

"Go Seel and Shellder!"

The two non-water pokemon jumped onto the two small islands while the water pokemon floated in the water.

"Ichigo, Bite the Seel!"

"Shellder, Ice Beam on Ichigo!"

"Thunder, send them a Thundershock!"

"Seel, dodge, then Headbutt Thunder!"

"Ichigo, hold onto Thunder and use Double Team!"

Ichigo jumped onto Thunder's platform and used Double Team. Suddenly, on every single platform, there was an Eevee and Jolteon. Seel, now confused, jumped at the one closest to it whileShellder shot an Ice Beam at the same one, making the harsh Ice attack hit Seel, wheeling it into the water before the attack hit a douplicate.

Since the pokemon were a bit off track, Thunder then launched a Thundershock, a massive critical hit onboth pokemon because of their distance and of the water they swam in was also hit. Seel resufaced first and it had fainted while Shellder had taken a bit less damage because of its closed shell.

"Seel, return, now, go Dewgong!"

The ice/water type pokemon landed gracefully into the water, making almost no splash.

"Use Thunder, now!" Shouted Sean.

Thunder obedientely started to charge up power.

"Dewgong, Hit Thunder with a Blizzard!"

"Shellder, use Water Gun on Thunder!"

Choco, realizing she had to help Thunder, shouted:

"Ichigo, use Follow Me!"

Ichigo stuck out its tongue and wagged its tail at Shellder and Dewgong, annoying the two pokemon and making them turn their attack to Ichigo, leaving Thunder unharmed.

"Now, dodge Ichigo!"

Using its amazing speed stats, Ichigo jumped onto another platform quickly, evading the two upcoming attacks. Thunder had finally charged up enough power and unleashed a huge Thunder Attack.

"Into the water guys!"

The water pokemon followed instuctions and dived into the water but the Thunder Attack hit the water, making the two pokemon resurface, both had fainted.

"Return, Now, go Cloyster!"

The huge oyster pokemon took a stand on one of the platforms, unwilling to go into the water.

"Cloyster, Blizzard!"

"Ichigo, try to dodge!"

"You too Thunder!"

Cloyster let out the huge icy attack. Ichigo managed to only get hit by a little bit, but it froze its left leg while Thunder was too slow and took full blast, making the electric pokemon faint.

"Good job Thunder, return, go Psy!"

A Xatu took the field, looking at the surrounding waters, then at its teammate and opponent and frowned. Not its favorite to be chosen against a type advantage.

"Cloyster, another Blizzard!"

"Psy, Bring Ichigo into the sky!"

"Ichigo, use Bite!"

Cloyster shot out another huge icy wind but Psy took the skies and swooped down to grab Ichigo. When at safe distance, Ichigo jumped down, biting into the water/ice pokemon's shell.

"Cloyster, use Rapid Spin!"

Cloyster closed its shell and started to spin quickly, making Ichigo dizzy and eventually fall off, landing into the water. Not knowing how to swim, it tried to stay above and Choco returned the pokemon before it could sink under.

"Its ok Ichigo, now go Sky!"

Alteria took the original place of the Eevee and followed Psy into the sky.

"Cloyster, Aurora Beam on Sky!"

"Psy, Confusion!"

"Sky, Earthquake!"

A rainbow colored beam shot out at Sky but it evaded it by landing on the ground, causing a massive earthquake onto the field, shaking the platform Cloyster was standing onand sending huge waves of water at it while Psy started glowing blue and pick up Cloyster before itslamed Cloyster down onto the ground, causing the pokemon to faint.

"Return Cloyster." Said Daisy, slightly disappointed.

"That was a great battle!" Said Lily from the stands and rushed down with two Cascade Badges.

"Here, your prize." Said Violet, handing them to the two kids.

"Strawberry! Where did you learn how to battle like that?" Asked Ash walking over from his watching spot.

"From you guys! You get a bunch of challengers at the Pokemon Leagues so I watch you guys battle!" Said Choco proudly.

"Well, since you're here, we might as well have lunch." Said Misty.

"I need to first heal my pokemon. I know Ichigo hates the pokeball." Said Choco grabbing her jacket and heading out.

"Wait for me!" Said Sean as he followed.

Upon arriving, they gave their pokemon to Nurse Joy, waiting for her to heal the fainted and hurt pokemon from the battle.

"Whew, you know a lot of people Strawberry." Said Sean, flopping down on the couch.

"Yeah, well, dad knows a lot of people, I just get introduced." Said Choco, following suit.

"Your pokemon are ready." Said Nurse Joy, handing the two kids their pokemon.

They headed back to the gym and had lunch before departing for the next town.

* * *

How is it? Couple words might be bunched together thanks to my horrible writing doc so sorry! -Pokebunny 


	9. Against Lt Surge

"You know, I really don't think battling suits me that much, I probably just won't take any more gyms and just watch you battle." Said Sean, after a while of thinking.

"Huh?" Asked Choco.

"Its just, well, I like to study Pokemon more then battling, I guess. I'll just watch you battle, and then help you." Said Sean.

It took a while for Choco to process that.

"So," She tweaked, "you really are going to give up battling?"

He nodded and turned to Thunder, who gave its master an approving growl.

Choco sighed,

"And I can't persuade you to keep battling with me?"

Sean looked at Choco's defeated face.

"I guess not."

Choco heaved another sigh and the two had just realized they had arrived at the gym. The man at the door led them into a huge battlefield surrounded by electric sparks, probably from Magnemites.

"Well, well, well, you kids think you can beat me?" Asked the gym leader, who was easily recognized by the descriptions Choco's dad had told her.

Lt. Surge threw out his first Pokeball, calling out:

"Voltorb, go!"

The Pokeball opened to reveal Voltorb, an exact replica of a Pokeball, only to have eyes of anger on its head.

"Vol-torb!" it said in an electrical voice.

Choco grabbed her first Pokeball as well, calling out:

"Ichigo, I choose you!"

The Pokeball opened to reveal Ichigo onto the field.

Battle Situation:

Battle I:

Choco's Ichigo vs. Lt. Surge's Voltorb

There are no time limits. The trainer may switch Pokemon back and forth, but not the leader.

BATTLE BEGIN!

"Voltorb! Go and use Tackle!"

Voltorb came at Ichigo in a full force.

"Ichigo, use Quick Attack!"

Ichigo came at Voltorb in a full blaze of power.

"We got you!" said Lt. Surge, smirking, "Voltorb, use Explosion!"

Voltorb's body began to glow a bright white.

"No! Ichigo, get out of there now!"

Ichigo stopped its attack and turned to flee Voltorb, but it was too late. The attack was carried out and soon the arena was shaking in a powerful explosion, causing black smoke to rise from the field and causing Choco to unsuccessfully see the playing field. About a few seconds later, the smoked cleared and showed Voltorb and Ichigo had fainted.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle," came the voice of a referee, "the first match ends in a draw!"

"Ichigo return!" said Choco, holding out her Pokeball and recalling her fallen Pokemon.

Ichigo returned into its Pokeball in a red beam of light.

"Good job Ichigo," said Choco, talking to the Pokeball, "you deserve a good rest."

Lt. Surge had recalled his Pokemon and said:

"So Choco, what do you think of my "explosive" strategy?"

"Nice move," complemented Choco, "but let's get the next battle started."

Lt. Surge took his second Pokeball and threw it, calling out:

"Magneton go!"

The second Pokeball opened to reveal Magneton, an Electric/ Steel Element with three steel balls stuck together and six magnets surrounded its body.

"Mag-ne-ton," it said in a deep voice.

Choco grabbed her second Pokeball and threw it, calling out:

"Crystal, I choose you!"

The Pokeball appeared and Crystal appeared.

"Dra!" cried out Crystal.

Battle II:

Choco's Crystal vs. Lt. Surge's Magneton

BATTLE BEGIN!

"Magneton, use Metal Sound!"

Magneton released a harsh sound that caused Choco to unsuccessfully call out her first attack.

"Crystal, use Flamethrower!"

Crystal opened its mouth and released its orange and golden flame. It caused Magneton to stop the Metal Sound and evade the attack.

"Now Crystal, use Double Team!"

Crystal surrounded the Magneton with illusions of its self, trying to confuse the leader's Pokemon.

"Magneton, use Shock Wave!"

Magneton shot out lighting bolts toward the gyms ceiling and caused the ceiling to bounce back the lighting bolts and hit the illusions. Crystal was hit, but didn't cause that much damage, although it stopped the double team attack.

"Now Magneton, use Thunderbolt!"

Magneton released the Thunderbolt from its magnets toward Crystal.

"Quick Crystal, use Protect!"

Crystal surrounded itself in a golden aurora, which stopped the Thunderbolt's attack.

"Now Crystal, use Flamethrower!"

Crystal released another Flamethrower and hit its mark, causing Magneton to faint.

"Magneton is unable to battle," declared the referee, "Crystal is the winner."

"Great job Crystal!" shouted out Choco.

"Gon!" said Crystal back to its trainer.

Lt. Surge recalled Magneton and said:

"Well Choco, you've been the first trainer in ages to defeat my Magneton, but my last Pokemon is a force to be dealt with." He laughed and threw his last Pokeball, calling out:

"Raichu, go!"

The Pokeball opened and Raichu, an Electric Element with orange fur and yellow fur appeared.

"Raichu!" said Raichu determinedly.

Battle III:

Choco's Crystal vs. Lt. Surge's Raichu

BATTLE BEGIN!

"Crystal, use Flamethrower!"

Crystal released its flame on Raichu.

"Raichu, use Quick Attack to dodge that attack!"

Raichu dodged from the Flamethrower.

"Crystal, chase after him with Quick Attack as well!"

Crystal bounded after Raichu.

"And now use Flamethrower again!"

Crystal released another Flamethrower and it hit Raichu.

"Raichu, use Bite!"

Raichu grabbed Crystal in its jaw and caused Crystal to flinch at the attack.

"Now Raichu, use Thunder!"

Raichu's body glowed a bright yellow and massive lighting bolts slammed into Crystal, causing it to faint.

"Crystal is unable to battle," called out the referee, "Raichu is the winner."

Choco recalled Crystal, thanked it, and reached for her third and final Pokeball.

"You're my last hope," whispered Choco and threw out her Pokeball, calling out:

"Bagel, I choose you!"

The Pokeball opened to reveal Bagel.

"Arroh!" it called out.

Battle IV:

Choco's Bagel vs. Lt. Surge's Raichu

BATTLE BEGIN!

"Go Raichu, use Thundershock!"

Raichu opened its mouth to release a powerful thunder attack.

"Bagel, use Protect!"

Bagel surrounded itself in a golden aurora and wasn't hit by the Thundershock.

"Now Bagel, use Headbutt!"

Bagel came at Raichu in full force and caused a critical hit to occur.

"Impressive," said Lt. Surge, "Raichu use Thunder Wave!"

Raichu released a blue spark from its body toward Bagel.

"Bagel, dodge it now!"

Bagel dodged the attack.

"Raichu, use Charge and then Thunder!"

Raichu surrounded itself in a yellow light, as if collecting magnetic particles in the air. Its body then glowed again and released a massive Thunder attack.

"Bagel, use Protect again!"

Bagel surrounded itself in another golden light and protected itself against the Thunder.

"Raichu, use Thunderbolt!"

Raichu released a stream of Thunderbolts from its body in a stream of light toward Bagel.

"Bagel, use Dragonbreath!"

Bagel released a fiery green stream of flames toward the oncoming Thunderbolt, causing an explosion.

"Bagel, go into the smoke and when you see Raichu, use Dragonbreath."

Bagel nodded and entered into the smoke.

Lt. Surge, meanwhile, tried to scan the smoke for Bagel. Suddenly, he heard a flame and saw Raichu struck by the Dragonbreath, causing it to be paralyzed.

"No! Raichu!"

"Now Bagel, use Focus Energy and Headbutt!"

Bagel surrounded itself in a white light and then came at Raichu in a white light, slamming in a critical hit and causing it to faint.

"Raichu is unable to battle," said the referee, "Bagel is the winner. The winner of this battle is Choco!"

"Bagel we did it!" said Choco, running up to her Bagel and hugging the huge dragon Pokemon.

Lt. Surge looked surprised but recalled Raichu. Sean had climbed down from the bleachers and ran up to congratulate Choco and her successful win. Lt. Surge walked up to her and said:

"Congratulations Choco, you certainly gave me a run for my money," he laughed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a Thunder Badge. "Here, this is the Vermilion Gym Badge. Congratulations once again."

Choco took the badge and started at the new golden badge.

"Thank you sir," said Choco, bowing her head in respect.


	10. Against Morty

"What's that big tower?" Asked Choco.

The two had arrived in Lavender Town and had just dropped off their pokemon to be healed after going through the Rock Tunnel, not a pleasent place. Especially for people scared of the dark, people like Choco. Anyways, duo had finally gotten through the dark tunnel and now were standing in front of the Pokemon Tower.

"Its the Pokemon Tower, made for letting pokemon's spirits depart after they have died and letting them rest peacefully." Said Sean, reading out of the guide book that was now in his hands.

"S-So there's d-died p-pokemon in there?" Asked Choco, now scared again.

Just when you get out off one scary place, you get to another.

"Sorta."

Choco shivered.

"Can we not go in there?" She asked.

Sean laughed,

"Fine, no need to get so scared."

Choco pouted at him before returning to the PokeCenter to see if her pokemon were healed. Sean followed, teasing her the whole way.

"Let's just challenge the gym leader and get out of this ghost town." Said Choco, grabbing her pokemon and heading towards the gym.

They had trained a while before arriving at Lavender Town where Dusty had some of his first battles, making the baby pokemon gain quite a few levels and it had begged Choco into letting it battle at this gym. Upon arriving, the man in front of the door walked inside to tell the gym leader there was a battle, and a middle aged man came out. He had a head-band on, keeping his blondish hair out of his face.

"Hello, I'm Morty, Lavender Town Gym Leader, and who do we have here?"

"I came to challenge the gym leader." Said Choco turning back to Sean, hoping he had changed his choice, but with no avail.

"Very well, please proceed."

He brought Choco to a battlefield as she left Ichigo with Sean, having him take care of Ichigo, before Ichigo was too scared to move because of the ghost pokemon.

"This is a two on two battle with-what's you name? Oh Choco Ketchum- Choco Ketchum and Morty, gym leader of Lavender Town." Said the judge and two green flags raised into the air.

"Go Haunter!"

"Go Dusty!"

"Haunter, Hypnosis!"

"Dusty, dodge, then use Crunch!"

Dusty jumped high into the air despite of its short legs, and came down head first, and bit into the ghost pokemon, making the pokemon recoil because of the type disadvantage.

"While you're there, sent in a Bite Attack!"

Dusty, again, bit down, this time not so hard, into Haunter's ghostly body, making the ghost pokemon flinch.

"Haunter, snap out of it! Use Hypnosis!"

"Quick, Dusty, use Torment!"

Dusty was quicker and the dark attack prevented Haunter to use the same move twice in a row, making the poor ghost pokemon look at its master in confusion.

"Now, use Crunch again!"

Dusty, again, bit into Haunter while its back was turned, this time, making the pokemon faint.

"Haunter, return, go Gengar!"

The evolved for of Haunter stood on the field in battle position.

"Dusty, Sand Storm!"

Before Sean could protest, Dusty kicked sand into the air and it started to whip up a storm. It might not havedamaged the pokemon, but it sure blocked its vision of Dusty for a while.

"Choco! It won't affect Gengar!"

Choco looked taken back but recovered quickly.

"Gengar, use Hypnosis into the field!"

Gengar let out waves of sleepness towards the huge storm. Despritely, Choco called out,

"Dusty, Attract!"

The heart bubble floated between the waves and hit Gengar straight on, making the pokemon suddenly have heart bubbles in its eyes but Dusty was too slow to dodge the upcoming waves and soon fell asleep.

"Gengar, Dream Eater!"

Gengar refuesed to attack, looking at the sleeping pokemon lovingly.

"Dusty, wake up!"

No movement.

"Gengar! Snap out of it! Use Nightmare!"

Still, Gengar refused to attack.

"Dusty! Please! Get up, please!"

Dusty was still asleep. Choco didn't know how long it'd be for Gengar to snap out of it but she had only used that to make Gengar cause less harm to therough skinpokemon.

"Gengar, look! That's your opponent!Confusion!"

Gengar shook its head furiously and suddenly returned to normal. Its eyes glowed blue for a second as it launched a purple blast towards Dusty.

"Dusty get out of there! Dodge!"

As if by complete luck, Dusty had decided to turn around in its sleep, causing the Confusion Attack to miss its head by a few inches. Sean sweat-dropped. Does that count as dodging?

"Dusty! Wake up!"

Dusty had been woken up by the blast of the Confusion and Choco's shouting and rubbed its eyes wearily.

"Great! You're awake! Dusty, use Attract again!Then use Crunch!"

"Gengar, Shadow Ball!"

Gengar stood its ground, a huge mistake, and got hit by the Attract before the Shadow Ball had charged up. By letting its guard down by watching Dusty, a Crunch attack knocked out Gengar, winning the battle for Choco. Returning his pokemon, he handed Choco the badge with a congradulations.

Joined by Sean on the way out, the duo headed towards their next destination, Celadon City.


	11. On the road to Celadon

"How did we end up here anyways?" Asked Choco again, staring at the dirt road next to their sleeping bags.

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't want to remember." Said Sean turning to face the starry night sky.

------------------------Flashback------------------------

"_I'm sorry, but because of the stolen goods from Saffron, I can't let anyone pass through the gates, maybe until the ruckus is over then you can come back." Said the gatekeeper of Saffron._

_The short cut would be through Saffron, though they didn't seem to have much luck getting through the first part of the plan._

"_But we just want to cut through, just to get to Celadon City." Explained Choco._

"_I'm not allowed to let anyone through." Persisted the gatekeeper._

"_Come on Choco, let's go the other way." Said Sean pulling Choco away._

-----------------------End Flashback--------------------

And that's how they ended up taking the detour, currently traveling on route 7. Ichigo started snoring after a while and Sean turned back to his friend's sleeping bag to see that she too, had fallen asleep. Not her fault, after all, it had been quite a travel. In fact, camping out had been one of the most common things that they had ended up doing these last few days, and he was starting to get used to it.

"Jolt?" Asked Thunder, walking to his master's sleeping bag.

"No, I'm fine, get some sleep for tomorrow." Said Sean, tearing his eyes from Choco's small sleeping form.

His loyal Pokemon nodded and curled up once again, soon to drift into sleep, followed by Sean.

The next morning arrived quickly as Sean was, again, the first one up and started to cook breakfast out of the few foods he had left, making a mental note to buy a lot more food at the Celadon Market. The smell of the delicious food woke up Thunder, as well as Ichigo and Choco.

Choco yawned,

"What time is it?"

"Time for you to wake up." Said Sean, handing her some food.

Choco ignored his comment and started eating, finishing the delicious breakfast within minutes. Soon later, they started the road, the long continuous journey to Celadon. Finally the two had just turned onto Route 8, Choco currently training for the next gym.

After another tiring day of training, they had finally decided to find a camp spot, which was on a patch of soft grass right next to a river.

"Does this river lead to Celadon?" Asked Choco.

"I think so, it's suppose to be a shortcut, but we don't have a boat." Said Sean.

"Does Surf count?" Asked Choco, suddenly sitting up.

"Yeah, I guess. Why?" Asked Sean.

"Tomorrow we take the shortcut!" Said Choco excitedly.

"Yeah, well, tomorrow isn't going to come unless you get some sleep." Said Sean turning around in his sleeping bag.

Choco stuck her tongue out at Sean's back before lying back down and falling asleep. Sean turned back over after a while only to see a sleeping Choco. Her strawberry-colored hair and already fallen onto her cream colored face, shadowing her eyes. Sean sat up and walked over and brushed a strand of stray hair away from her face. He smiled at her innocence while she was asleep. Careful not to wake any of the Pokemon, he was about to walk back to his sleeping bag when Choco muttered something. He turned around but Choco was still asleep, just tossing and turning.

"Mom…Dad… Pika... Dusty…Ichigo…Crystal…Sky…Bagel… Someone help me…"

Sean could feel his chest hurt into not hearing his name, but they had barely known each other for just a week or so. He shook the thought out of his head and tried to sleep but he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Morning came quickly as Sean stayed awake, laying in his sleeping bag thinking about the night before. It was barely sunrise when he heard his name called.

"Sean?"

"Huh?"

"So you are awake." Said Choco also sitting up, careful not to wake up Ichigo.

"That's new, you're up early." He replied raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, I didn't have such a good dream last night." Said Choco.

Sean's arms nearly gave away at the mentioning.

"Uh, yeah." He uttered out.

"Huh?" Whatever her friend had just said had made no sense at all.

"Nothing." He said, turning away.

"Sean? Are you ok?" Asked Choco, sliding out of bed and walking over.

He didn't answer.

"Sean."

Still, no answer. Choco put her hand on his forehead to feel his temperature but he brushed it off.

"What's wrong?" Her voice was full of worry.

Her friend was usually never like that, actually, never. Sean got up and started to put away his things. 'What's wrong?' Not even he knew the answer to that.

"Coming?" His gaze finally turned back to Choco, though now his normal blue eyes had turned into an icy glance.

Choco nodded, unable to say anything else. Somehow, she thought it was her fault. After waking up the Pokemon, they started to follow the river. The trip was silent, the Pokemon walking by their master, confused at what was going on but decided not to ask. Choco was about three steps behind Sean the whole time, pondering what she might have said to make it like this.

Sean led the way towards Celadon, not even glancing at the map that he held in his hands. Suddenly, he heard Choco's footsteps stop behind him. Then, a choke, and then a sob. It was quiet, but he heard it anyways.

"Choco?"

He had never seen her cry before, just a tad bit watery here and there. Now, she had fallen to her knees, bangs hung loosely to hide her tearful face. He had never wanted to see her like that; even a slight bit teary and he would almost never forget it.

"I just, sob, want my, sob, best friend, hic, back." She said through her sobs.

"C-Choco…"

Sean tilted her head up and used his thumbs to wipe away some tears. His eyes had turned back to the soft teal pools looking into her chocolate-brown ones.

"Finally!" Cried Choco as her arms hugged his neck.

Being a bit shorter then her male friend, she was on her tippy toes but that didn't matter, as long as he stayed like that the whole time, nothing would matter. But good times don't last for long, especially for these two friends. For example, the person spying on the from under the lake through a periscope.

"Finally I've found you."


	12. Team Wind Attacks

"Gather everyone up, we have very important news to share from the boss." Said an executive, otherwise known as Lee.

Behind him stood the boss, face still hidden in the shadows. No one called him by his real name; no one dared to, not like anyone knew what it was, except for Lee. But then again, no one dared to.

At once grunts from all stations reported to the central lab, the name of the place the boss always stayed. Always.

"We have finally made the greatest creation ever. From the Ancient Stone, we have created the Emerald Orb!" Said the boss, holding up green orb, much like the red and blue orbs, just green.

All the grunts cheered, all except for one, the one in the back, in a green hood just to cover up some of his flaming red hair.

"Now, your executive, Lee, here, has made the job easy had we have found a matching pair with this orb. Lee, please show us."

Lee pushed a button and the room became dark, except for the light projected by a projector. There was a picture of a ten-year old girl with pinkish red hair and chocolate eyes appeared on screen. The man in the back's eyes widened. He had seen her before.

---------Flashback---------

"_Hey Lance! Long time no see!" Said Ash Ketchum._

"_Hi Lance!" Said Misty._

"_Nice to see you too." Said Lance._

_A little girl stood next to her father sucking her thumb._

"_Choco, that's Lance." Said Misty._

_The little girl took out her thumb and answered,_

"_Hello."_

------------End Flashback-------

"This is the girl." He said.

"Hey, that's the girl the beat me!" Shouted a grunt, hard to tell in the dark.

"And you have the courage to admit that." Snapped Lee.

Again it was quiet and Lee continued with his 'perfect' plan, while the red-haired man in the back took in all the info.

----------------------

"Do you always go this fast?" Asked Sean.

As you may have guessed (or not) they two were surfing on Crystal's back, both having quite a share of fun into getting the other wet.

"Yup!"

Another splash, now both the kids were wet, but neither minded, it was a fun trip the whole day, but they still had a little bit of the way before reaching Celadon. The night was the last both thought they would be camping out. Then they would get to rest in an actual hotel, and as if the past couple days hadn't been eventful enough.

A shadow peeked at the two sleeping peacefully. Both had changed out of their wet clothes and were in fresh new ones. The wind rustled the bush the shadow had used for hiding and Ichigo's ears twitched at the sound while the shadow cursed mentally, but the Pokemon wasn't awake to his great relief.

Not that he wanted to do this, but there was really no choice. After what they did to his…no, he would forget about that, just focus on the job at hand. He squirmed out of the bushes that he was hiding in and walked cautiously towards the sleeping girl. Suddenly a shadow fell onto the ground and he looked up to see a form of a Dragonite up in the air, along with a rider.

Once again, he cursed under his breath and quickly scampered though the bushes and the dragon rider smirked. The new grunts brought in had been useless. Now, all he had to do was sneak back in, and the rest would be taken care of easily.

--

Morning came as they two slowly woke up. Choco was starting to get used to the schedule of waking up early, but barely. They let out their Pokemon for a stretch before taking the road path this time. No need to change clothes again.

The two were in front, chattering away about Hoenn, in which Sean was still talking about his neighbor, the Pokemon, etc. Dusty started to wonder if he would ever stop. The Pokemon had taken the rear, Thunder was keeping an eye out for Dusty in case of anything, even though Dusty had told him to stop and that he hated being the youngest in the group. He wanted to evolve, but if he did, he would stay in his pokeball because of his size.

He decided to take the odds and evolve. At least it would get him some respect in the team. Now, not even Choco was confident enough to let him battle on his own, even after the gym battle he had won all by himself. The stupid thunder runt didn't even battle a gym leader yet. Well, maybe one, but it didn't win it by itself.

"We're finally here!" The shout of his master snapped him out of his thoughts.

He scanned the two in front of him. The purple birdy Pokemon didn't know what he was talking about when he said that the two were in love. For Ho-oh sake, he had even made her cry! He never really like that other human anyway.

Respect your elders. The sentence never made any sense to Dusty, though the other Pokemon understood it pretty well, except for Ichigo. She was the only Pokemon that he actually called by a name. She was also one of the youngest and had almost always stood up for him.

"Come on Dusty, aren't you excited?" Asked Choco bending down to his eye level.

Looking around, he had finally realized that they had arrived in the PokeCenter. Returning to his pokeball, he waited in line to be healed.

"Hey, don't you think that Dusty isn't in the best of moods today?" Asked Choco, frowning slightly.

"Isn't he always like that?" Asked Sean.

Choco shrugged; maybe it would be better later on. She would make sure to get her Pokemon a gift when they were healed.

"We better hurry up, I know my Pokemon don't like to stay in pokeballs for too long." She said and practically bounced out the door.

Sean followed. He wasn't quite into shopping but he knew Choco wasn't either. Maybe he wouldn't have to wait around for her to come out of a clothes store, like his sister. He was right, sort of. Choco didn't wander into clothes stores, but she sure spent time looking for some Pokemon accessories. She ended up buying a gift for each of her Pokemon.

Finally, the duo finished their shopping and arrived at the PokeCenter to pick up their Pokemon. Suddenly, an explosion blew the rooftop. Smoke blocked their vision for a couple seconds and when it subsided, there were two people standing in the middle of the Center with blue shirts and pants labeled with a 'W'. Most people had already fled but since the two were in the back, an exit was pretty far.

"There she is." Pointed one of them towards Choco.

"I have eyes, I can see that." Retorted the other.

A rush of air passed as Sean and Choco looked up. Again, there was the Team Wind airplane. Instinctively, Sean stood protectively in front of Choco, but one of the people on the ground released a smoke bomb, again, blocking the two's vision.

When the smoke was rushed away, an unconscious Choco lay in one of the member's arms. Thunder growled by his master's side. The ladder dropped for the airplane had reached where the two were standing. The one holding Choco started to mount the ladder when Thunder released a massive Thunderbolt. Instead, the man kept climbing and a fainted Taillow fell to the ground.

"Cowards, you use Pokemon as your shields." Said Sean.

The one still on the ground shrugged,

"Well, it works."

Without another wasted second, he, too, hopped onto the ladder as he returned the fallen Pokemon and let out a Swellow, who used Whirlwind. A gigantic wind hit Sean and Thunder, slamming the two against a wall, making both trainer and Pokemon faint.


	13. Character Submit Chapter

Pokebunny's announcement 

If any of you have read my summary, then you know that this is the 'submit a character page'. If you have any suggestions, please tell me by dropping a review. Also add some descriptions and tell it you want this character to appear more then once. Thanks again for reading my story and if you don't mind since you've gotten to this page, please review!

Thank you all reviewers and I would like to thank every one of you that has read this page again because I know someone like you has the kind enough heart to even bother looking at this story that came off the top of my mind.

Thanx again and review!

Pokebunny


	14. Captured

Sean woke up with a bit of pain on his back, but all in all, fine.

"Choco."

Instinctively, the name came out of his mouth. Thunder padded over and dropped something at his feet. It was Choco's pokebelt. She wouldn't have gone anywhere without it.

"Jolt."

Thunder's call was full of shame as Sean started to remember the things that happened.

"How long has it been?"

"Oh, about a couple of hours, you're fine, just need a little rest." Said a voice.

Maybe of a girl's but it was nothing like Choco's.

He got up and looked around. There was a girl with an orange bandana that covered some of her dark blue hair and fingerless gloves. Next to her was a boy that had bright reddish hair with Go-goggles acting like a headband.

"Hey there, I'm Chris and that's Kari." Said the boy.

"I'm Sean Birch and um, thanks for the help, but I really have to go." He said and grabbed Choco's pokebelt and dashed out the door with Thunder following.

"Do all patients run away?" Asked Chris, raising an eyebrow.

"He saw Team Wind." Came Kari's answer, running after the boy followed by a clueless Chris.

Choco woke up in a dark room. Feeling around for her Pokemon or her pokebelt, she realized she must have dropped it somewhere. Where was she? Her eyes had started to adjust to the darkness as she discovered that she was in a small, empty room with no windows and just one door.

Suddenly, the door opened, making the lighted hallway blind Choco's eyes for a second. A face looked into the room.

"She's awake."

Two grunts appeared at her side and each grabbed one of her arms. Hoisting her up, they dragged a squirming Choco to a door marked 'Boss' and pushed her in. Once maybe in a million years was the boss' room lighted and Choco got a clear view of her. Yes, it was a girl, though no one knew that. It was always dark in the room and she had a hood over her hair.

"I see the heir has come." She said smirking.

Choco stood up and rubbed the sore spots where the grunts had grabbed her while giving a glare to the girl.

"Ah, yes. We forgot to introduce ourselves. I am Katori, head of Team Wind." Said the girl.

Choco didn't answer.

"Well, not talkative are we."

"Maybe I would be if I wasn't talking to you." Spit out Choco.

"You're very rude, you know, so I'll get down to business. Have you heard of Ho-oh?" Asked Katori.

Choco nodded. Her dad had told her about the Legendary. It had magnificent colored wings and left a rainbow as a trail of wherever it went. He even said that it flew over the skies of Pallet Town once.

"It's heading towards Kanto for a power source."

Again Choco nodded for her to continue.

"And that power source is you."

That had caught Choco off guard. The legendary Ho-oh had been coming to Kanto for her? Why? She didn't have any power.

Katori seemed to read her mind and pushed a button. A reddish-colored orb came out of a drawer. Choco was at once mesmerized by it, watching something like a fire burn inside. Katori pointed to it.

"That orb controls the legendary." Explained Katori.

"So you need me for?" Asked Choco.

"This."

It was simple. Katori threw the orb at the ground in front of Choco. Not wanting such a precious stone to be broken, she dived for it and managed to slide her hands under it before it hit the ground. What Choco didn't expect was that the orb seemed to melt into her hands, sending a whoosh of energy through her body. Orange markings flashed on her skin and when they faded, so did Choco's conscious.


	15. Rescued

"Wait!" Kari's voice was carried in the wind as Sean turned around.

"Are you looking for Team Wind?" Asked Chris catching up.

Sean nodded in surprise,

"They took my friend." He said uncertain to trust the two new strangers.

Kari and Chris shared a look, as it asking permission to say something. Kari spoke up first.

"Well, many million years ago, a legendary Pokemon, Ho-oh, lived in my hometown, Ecruteak City and rested on top of the Tin Tower. The three dogs, Entei, Suicune, and Raikou watched over Johto and reported to the King."

Sean nodded for her to continue.

"A poacher came and wanted to capture these three dogs, successfully managing to weaken the three. Then Ho-oh swooped down and attacked the stranger, making the man flee of surprise. Ho-oh managed to revive the dogs, but it used up most of its power so it left Johto and rested in a secret cave. Until then, its location was unknown and it remained asleep, until a new evil, Team Wind, has sought to capture this Pokemon. It fled from its hiding spot, desperate to find help, and stored its power and secrets into a stone." Continued Chris.

"The Ancient Stone?" Asked Sean.

"Unfortunately, yes, and now Team Wind has control of it, molding it into a Fire Orb. But only one person can unlock all of the secrets, and Ho-oh chose your friend." Replied Chris.

"And that's enough talk, we gotta get her outta there!" Said Kari, grabbing the two boys' wrists and making them follow her into a tunnel, more of a maze.

Kari let out a Sandslash, who looked around at its surroundings and got to work immediately. It led the three to and from passageways, back and forth until Sean was completely confused. Finally, they reached a door. Sandslash pointed at Sean and sniffed him as if asking if he were to be trusted.

Kari nodded and the Ground Pokemon snorted, that is, before he caught a scent and dug onwards quickly. Seeing Sean's confused look, Kari explained that Sandslash had caught Choco's scent, or more of the Fire Orb's master being shoved around. After a while of digging, Sandslash waited a while before pointing to the ground above it and giving a small cry.

"It found her." Said Chris softly.

"Yeah, but she's closely guarded, wait till they pass, then, Sandslash, follow them." Instructed Kari as shuffling of feet passed over the hole.

Sandslash dug slower as they followed the noise when a door clanged shut. Sandslash poked the ground above and made a frustrated noise. Moving its claws at lightning speed, the roof became thinner, and thinner, and thinner until it was gone. The darkness of the room made it look almost the same in the hole and Sean would have thought that Sandslash was still digging if he didn't smell the fresh air.

Sandslash jumped out of the hole first, landing perfectly on the ground and looking for signs of danger. Sensing none, it motioned for the others to climb out. Kari came out first, followed by Sean, then Chris.

Having their eyes adjust to the dark, they saw a small figure in the dark as Sean rushed towards it. It was Choco. He was about to shake her when a hand held him back.

"Don't touch her, she's harboring the Fire Orb. If you move her, the orb might shatter inside." Said Chris gently but firmly.

Sean somewhat nodded and turned to face Choco,

"So what do we do now?" His voice wavered slightly, even surprising himself.

Kari sighed and moved closer to the rest of the group.

"We wait."

----------------Somewhat in Kari's POV-------------

It was quite a while before Kari was the first to notice some movement. Chris had fallen asleep along the wall a long time ago while Sean had remained at the girl's side, but he too, had fallen asleep having the pokebelt he was holding drop near her hand. It was probably night, given that there was no more light shining under the door, but it was hard to tell in a room with no windows.

The girl's eyes fluttered open and she sat up, or at least tried to, when her arms collapsed and Kari caught her, noticing some new bruises forming along her arm. Probably where the grunts had grabbed her. The girl was surprised as hands helped her up and looked at Kari. Kari introduced herself and Chris, who was sleeping in the corner. Despite her condition, the girl managed a weak smile and replied,

"Nice to meet cha, I'm Choco Ketchum."

At the sound of voices, the two boys stirred and woke up rubbing their eyes. Spotting Sean, Choco rushed over and hugged him.

"Let's get going before they find us." Whispered Chris as Kari realized that he was right next to her.

Kari nodded and as much as she hated to break up the two, they had to get out of there before anyone could find the tunnel. Choco let go as Kari let out Sandslash again and they followed the ground Pokemon out of the hideout.

"Thanks for the help!" Said Choco once they had reached a safe distance away from the hideout.

Kari smiled,

"Anytime."

"Can you guys travel with us to Celadon?" Asked Choco.

Chris shook his head,

"We have to fly back to Johto quickly and we'll come back, maybe we can meet again sometime?"

Sean nodded,

"Sure, see you guys later!"

Chris let out a Skarmory and Kari let out a Noctowl and they flew away as the other two waved goodbye.

"Well, why don't we just camp out here?" Asked Sean.

Choco nodded. It was about nighttime anyways and it had been a long, hard day. Choco let out her Pokemon as they curled around and fell asleep quickly. The two put their sleeping bags out near a huge oak as shade of sun in the morning. They slipped in their sleeping bags and fell asleep, immune to the rest of the world, that is, except for dreams, bad dreams.


	16. Nothing

A huge bird let out a cry as her eyes wandered into the air. There, a bird was not hidden, just unclear as it dove at her. She shielded her face as hopes that she would not get hit. The bird opened its beak and an orange blast came at her.

----------------------------

Choco woke up in a sweat, clinging the sides of her blue sleeping bag. It felt so real that it was too unlike a nightmare. Something wet dropped into her hand from her face as she moved her hand to feel what it was. It was tears. She had been crying. Not even bothering to wipe them away as they kept coming, she sat up and leaned against the tree, crying softly as her head was buried in her arms.

She tried not to wake up the Pokemon, who had slept peacefully from the excitement. A noise popped from her right as she peered at the egg. It was starting to move, barely, meaning it still had a while to hatch. She moved her sleeping bag closer to the tree and leaned onto it. It felt good to have some support, especially when you're crying.

----------------------------

There was a little noise that woke up Sean. It sounded like something moving, then a muffled cry. He sat up in bed and looked around. Why would anyone be crying in the middle of the night? He noticed Choco was leaning against the tree, almost invisible to him in the dark, but she was curled up. No doubt the sound was from her.

"Choco?" It was a whisper but her head shot up anyways.

"Are you crying?"

Taking somewhat of an advantage of the dark, her arm went up to wipe the tears.

"No," She lied.

"Uh-huh. Come here." Said Sean as he beckoned for her to come.

Choco hesitated before slipping out and walking over to him. Her face was wet, obviously she had lied.

"What's wrong?"

She buried her face into his loose shirt, as he cradled her gently.

"I'm scared." Her voice was soft.

"Of what?"

There was a pause.

"Of just what had happened." It felt forced out of her as she could feel a heavy weight be lifted off her shoulders.

"Its ok." Came the reply as she soon drifted off to sleep.

Sean embraced her and wrapped a blanket over her before he fell asleep too.

The next morning Choco woke up by herself, and by the location of the sun, it was pretty late, about noon. Sean was still asleep, unusual for him, and Choco let him rest. Managing to not wake him up, she stood up as her hand accidentally neared his forehead and she felt something hot. Making sure, she put her hand up felt his forehead again. It was burning and it was all her fault. She had been so selfish yesterday and he hadn't even healed after the incident at Celadon.

Choco grabbed a small towel from her bag as she dampened it in a nearby stream. She made sure that it was cool before she put it onto his head, waking him up. He tried to stand up, but Choco pushed him back down and whispered,

"Stupid, you have a fever and it's all because of me."

He smirked slightly as her words and replied,

"I'm fine."

He tried to get up again, but Choco resisted, pushing his shoulders down. Losing most of his energy, he fell back down as Choco nearly fell on top of him. Their faces were so close that Choco could fell his breath onto her face. She blushed a dark shade of crimson.

"Um, I'll go gather some berries." She muttered as she got up and Ichigo and Dusty, who had just woken up, followed their master.

Sean glanced at her retreating figure and smiled as Thunder padded over and lay down next to its master, though both of them could see the wide smirk on the thunder cat's face.

------------------------------------------

That was so embarrassing! Instant replays of the happenings were clear in her head as she distractedly picked berries with her two Pokemon. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just shake it out of her head? Dusty brought along some berries that she randomly stuffed into her bag.

"Rrr?" Growled Dusty.

"No, nothings wrong." Replied Choco.

Nothing was wrong. Nothing was wrong. That was it. Nothing.


	17. Against Erika

That night was awkward as Choco made dinner, consisting of berries and some of the food supply they had bought at Celadon. The Pokemon didn't complain, though they were so used to Sean's good cooking they barely choked down the food. After that, they went back to sleep as Choco sat down by Sean, watching him rest. She had no one to talk to, and for the first time she realized how much he did, how little she did except for train and help gather berries.

She wanted to start a conversation, about anything, anything to break the silence, but he needed rest, and she wasn't going to disturb him. Not unless it was an emergency. She glanced up at the moon, it was full, and almost straight up, signaling midnight, but she wasn't sleepy. A soft ball of fur cuddled around her.

"Ichigo." She said softly as she turned her attention to the small Eevee.

It purred and trotted back to her bag to grab something. Coming back, it dropped the egg into her hands. Sean had said it was rare, maybe a legendary. It moved, this time more frequently. Finally, a small crack emitted as a fish stuck out its tail. It was brown, different specks all over its body. She turned on her PokeDex, but Ichigo's paw muffled the sound as it pointed to Sean.

Choco smiled slightly and got up. Again, farther this time, she pointed the PokeDex at the fish and it sent out a weird signal. Finally, it recognized it as a Feebas, soon to evolve into a Milotic. Feebas. Why hadn't she have heard the name before? Was it a legendary? A Johto Pokemon?

"It's a Hoenn Pokemon." Came Sean's voice.

Choco's head whipped in that direction as he sat up with the help of the tree trunk.

"Here." He said, handing her a blue scarf.

"A scarf?" She asked.

Sean laughed,

"No, it's a blue scarf, made for increasing a Pokemon's beauty. And that's the only way to evolve a Feebas."

Choco blushed in embarrassment as she wrapped the scarf around the rough hide of the Pokemon. It flopped up and down as to show that it like it before tiring out and Choco put it inside a Pokeball.

"Thanks." She murmured quietly.

Sleep was overwhelming as she struggled to take out her sleeping bag and lay it down. She lay down on the soft mattress and was asleep within seconds.

The next morning, Sean was once again himself, much to Choco's relief, and prepared breakfast. The Pokemon were relieved at to not have another berry feast and gobbled down their meal happily. After breakfast, Choco knelt down next to the Pokemon and introduced them to their new teammate, Tsunami the Feebas.

After a couple greetings, they continued their journey and Dusty seemed increasingly happier, offering to help clean up, leading the way, etc. They were just a small path away from Celadon and soon reached there by nightfall and booking a room in a PokeCenter.

--------------------------------------------------------

"Sir, they have just arrived in Celadon City, what shall we do now?"

Katori nodded and replied to the executive,

"We will have a nice meeting at Fuschia City."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, Choco woke up and started to tidy around, getting her Pokemon ready for the gym battle that day. The two got situated and set out for the gym. Finally reaching the huge doors, Choco asked,

"Excuse me sir, I would like to challenge the gym leader."

The guard looked down at her and let her in, but when Sean was about to enter, his arm blocked the way.

"Hey, why can't I follow?" Asked Sean.

"Don't bother arguing, they don't allow males in there." Said a nearby old man.

"But-" Started Choco.

"Now hurry up, or else you might get kicked out too." Shooed the guard.

Choco glanced at Sean and he nodded before finding a bench to sit down at. Thunder followed obediently and jumped onto the bench as Choco peeked one last time at her friends and bit her lip. She had always had Sean there to help her; this was going to be hard.

She stepped towards a long walkway filled with plants. She couldn't see the end of it, for too many Oddish and Weepinbell blocked the way. She was careful not to step on any Pokemon as she made her way to the gym leader. A beautiful lady about 25 stepped up to the platform.

"Hello, welcome to Celadon Gym. I am Erika, the Gym leader here and I guess you wish to challenge me?" She questioned.

Choco nodded.

"Ok then, I wish you luck, for I will not go easy, even on a little girl."

"Hey, I'm not a little girl!" Protested Choco.

"Yes, I am sorry. Now, let us continue the battle. Go Weepinbell!"

A pear-shaped Pokemon appeared in a flash of red light and let out a bellow.

"Go Sky!"

Sky chirped as it stretched out its wings and landed near the Weepinbell.

"Weepinbell, start with Stun Spore!"

Weepinbell let out a breath and orange glitter floated towards Sky.

"Sky, use Aerial Ace to dodge!"

Sky disappeared for a moment and the orange glitter dissolved. Suddenly, Weepinbell fell down from an impact and Sky retreated towards its side of the field.

"Weepinbell, are you ok?"

Weepinbell stood up weakly but soon crashed down onto the floor. Erika returned her Pokemon and let out another,

"Gloom, let's go!"

A small bud Pokemon appeared and orange smoke filled the arena.

"Sky, hold your breath!"

Sky nodded as it inhaled sharply and its puffed up cheeks looked even more puffed.

"Ah, I see you know much, now, Gloom, Acid!"

Gloom stopped letting out the smell as it started to squirt purple acid at Sky.

"Sky, you can breathe now! Use Sky Attack!"

Sky let out a breath and started glowing as it rose into the air. Then, it dove down at Gloom, spinning flames surrounded its body. Purple acid hit Sky, but was easily deflected by Sky's spinning and landed elsewhere. Sky hit Gloom at incredible speed, making Gloom recoil and rush out of the way of another hit.

Gloom had been considerably weakened but refused to give up as it stood up again and Sky returned back to Choco's side of the field, also tired from the wasted energy of the attack.

"Gloom, use Sleeping Powder!"

Gloom let out blue powder as it floated towards Sky.

"Sky, Protect!"

Sky put up a barrier of green as the powder dissolved into the air again.

"Gloom, now use Tackle!"

Gloom rushed forwards but Sky managed to keep up the barrier and Gloom slammed into a wall, making it faint. Right when Erika pulled out her last pokeball, Sky fell to the floor. It was a tie.

"Very nice strategy, but let's see how you can stand to this!"

A Victreebell appeared on Erika's side and let out a rumble as Choco released Bagel and it roared as it rose to face its opponent.

"Victreebell, use Vine Whip!"

"Bagel, Aerial Ace!"

Victreebell grabbed Bagel's leg but it escaped using Aerial Ace and reappearing before it hit Victreebell. But the large Pokemon didn't take too much damage.

"Victreebell! Use Razor Leaf!"

Victreebell released dozens of leaves as they headed towards Bagel. Going too fast, it hit Bagel, causing it to roar, but also not taking too much damage because of its resistance.

"Victreebell, use Poison Powder!"

"Bagel, use Gust!"

Victreebell released purple powder into the air but as Bagel lifted into the air and created a huge gust storm, the powder was blown back, instead causing Victreebell to become poisoned. It fell down as it weakly stood up, but it was obvious that the poison was doing its toll as it fainted.

"I am sorry to have underestimated you, here, take this Rainbow badge as proof of your victory." Said Erika, handing Choco a badge with rainbow colors arranged into a flower sign.

"I wish you good luck on your journey." Said Erika.

"Thanks!" Replied Choco as she headed out the door.

She rushed over to Sean, who was resting peacefully on the bench in the shade.

"Sean! Look! I got the badge!" She shouted happily, hugging her older friend.

Sean looked down at the tuff of hair under his face,

"Congrates." He whispered and took something out of his bag.

Choco let go curiously and stared at the new item.

"What is it?" She asked, her eyes brimming with curiosity.


	18. Windy Evolution

"Come on, tell me, what is it?" Asked Choco.

Sean had hidden the present behind his back as Choco tried to peer over his shoulder, but without avail.

"I said, guess a hand." He replied.

Choco pouted as she glanced at him.

"Left," she replied.

"Nope," he said as he stuck out his empty left hand,

"And so now, I get to keep it."

"Hey! Its for me!" Said Choco as she reached for his other hand.

"Excuse me?" Came a female voice as both stopped what they were doing to glance up at fourteen-year-old girl wearing a pink short-sleeved tank top with a v-neckline.

Her whole outfit was in Japanese style with flowers woven into the top and the hem of the knee length skirt and she wore a pair of rugged running shoes.

"I'm Sakura Lin. I just saw your battle with my relative Erika and I was wondering if I could battle you. A friendly one-on-one battle." She said.

Choco glanced at Sean and he shrugged.

"Of course! By the way, I'm Choco Ketchum and that's my friend Sean Birch. That's Thunder, and that's Ichigo." Replied Choco.

Sean got up to be judge, slipping Choco's present into his backpack unnoticed, and prepared for the battle.

"It is a one-on-one battle between Choco Ketchum and Sakura Lin, Begin!"

"Go Sunshine!"

A well-groomed Espeon jumped into action as Choco pulled out her pokeball and called out,

"Go Dusty!"

The green Pokemon landed not too far from Sunshine as it glanced at the psychic Eevee evolution.

"Sunshine, use Psychic!" Shouted Sakura.

The jewel on Sunshine's forehead glowed blue and Choco called out her command,

"Dusty, Sandstorm!"

Dusty immediately whipped up a storm as Sunshine cringed from the sand in its face and was temporarily blinded.

"Now, use Crunch!"

Dusty jumped into the air and positioned itself for an attack at the unaware Espeon and Sakura desperately called,

"Sunshine, look out!"

But it was no use. Sunshine was unable to see Dusty until massive jaws slammed down onto the psychic Pokemon, causing a huge critical hit, from both type disadvantage, and Sunshine's let down guard.

"Sunshine, shake it off, then use Confusion!"

Sunshine started to shake itself violently, as if it had just fallen into the water, and then let out a blue ray that sent Dusty flying to the other side of the field, but luckily Dusty had caught its footing, landing in not too much harm, but the confusion had taken a good amount of Dusty's energy. The sandstorm seemed to subside as Both trainers called out at the same time,

"Now, use Hyper Beam!"

The two attacks crashed at the middle of the field, and a huge explosion shook the battlefield.

"Dusty, Sandstorm again!"

A tornado of sand spun around the field as Dusty was in the middle of it. Something white flashed as soon, Dusty began to grow larger. The sandstorm hit Sunshine but Sakura was too busy watching Dusty evolve.

"Wow…"

In Dusty's original place was a Pupitar. Choco immediately pulled out her PokeDex and scanned the new Pokemon.

_Pupitar, the hard shell Pokemon. Its shell is as hard as sheet rock, and it is also very strong. Its thrashing can topple a mountain_

"Alright Dusty! You evolved!" Shouted Choco happily.

Dusty grunted as it focused back onto the battle.

"Its ok Sunshine. Use Shadow Ball!"

"Dusty, use Light Screen!"

As the dark purple energy ball was thrown towards Dusty, it was reflected by an orange barrier, Light Screen, and hit Espeon with full force, making the Sun Pokemon faint.

"That was good, I have to admit. Thanks for the battle, I guess I'll be seeing you?" Said Sakura.

"Yup, you can count on it!" Replied Choco as the two watched Sakura walk away and waved.

-------------------------

"Ah, never though it'd be so good to rest!" Said Choco as they found a spot in the shade.

They had been riding down the bike trail. It was an easy ride, but the distance made it a challenge. Choco's blue bike was parked right next to her as she leaned against the tree.

"You're tired already? I thought you were the one who had infinite energy." Said Sean as he parked his bike.

"Mm-hmm." Came Choco's reply.

After a short rest, the two decided to continue and arrived at Fuchsia City. Tired and worn out, the two booked a room and turned in for the night. The next morning came fast as they packed up and got ready to leave to go see the beach. Surprisingly, they were the only ones there. Suddenly, a huge wave appeared that shook both off their feet, landing in the soft sand. A green ship with a 'w' painted in white emerged from the water as executive Lee rose on a platform.

"What do you think your doing?" Shouted Choco.

"Well, our boss asked me to battle you, so I'm just following orders." He replied as he reached for his belt.

"And if I don't agree?" Asked Choco.

"Then this."

Choco's head felt dizzy as she collapsed onto her knees, trying hard to stand up.

"Can't you see? Now that you have the Fire Orb in your body, we have complete control of your body." Explained Lee.

"I'll battle you!" Shouted Sean.

"N-no, I'll do it." Said Choco as she wearily got up.

"That's a good girl. A one on one." Smirked Lee.

"But one more trick like that and you lose." Said Sean.

"Deal." Said Lee as he let out his Pokemon.

A Swellow took the skies as Choco called out,

"Go Tsunami!"

The Feebas flopped into the water as it soon resurfaced and continued flopping. Upon seeing the Pokemon that Choco chose, Lee doubled in laughter, nearly falling off the raised platform.

"T-That little thing c-can beat Swellow? Ha, haha, you have got, ha, to be kidding me!" He said.

"I'm going to do it, you just watch." Said Choco.

She could only hope that the blue scarf that Sean had given Tsunami would work now. She had never taken it off, and a few days should be enough. She had even fed Feebas a billion pokeblocks.

_Come on Tsunami, you can do it!_

"Choco, what are you doing? Tsunami just hatched a week ago!" Whispered Sean.

"Yeah, I know, but the blue scarf will do its job any moment now. I just have to get Tsunami to dodge all the attacks." Said Choco determined.

"Swellow, use Fly!"

Swellow climbed the skies as Choco called out,

"Tsunami, underwater!"

The Feebas just flopped again and stayed afloat.

"Tsunami, go underwater!"

Just as Swellow was about to hit it, Tsunami seemed to understand the command and dove into the water, spraying droplets into Swellow's eyes and making it cringe as it blindly flew into the skies.

"Now, Tsunami, use Waterfall!"

Tsunami resurfaced again as it also took it a while to process the command, but slammed into the bird Pokemon likewise as it fell into the water.

"Swellow! How can you lose to that pathetic Pokemon! GET UP!"

"Tsunami is not pathetic!" Shouted Choco.

Tsunami seemed to agree as it suddenly glowed white and started to change shape.

"See, Sean, I told you that Tsunami would evolve!" Said Choco excitedly.

Now, in Tsunami's original place, was a graceful Milotic as it glared at Lee.

"Tsunami! That was great! You evolved!" Said Choco.

She would have hugged the Pokemon if it hadn't been on the water.

"Swellow, get out of the water, use Gust!" Shouted Lee.

"How mean, making a Pokemon battle while it can barely survive. I'll show you, Tsunami, use Hyper Beam!"

A giant golden blast struckthe flying Pokemon as it ramed into Lee. He growled as he returned his Pokemon, but left.

"Ah, now that was great Tsunami!" Congratulated Choco as she hugged the water Pokemon.

"Awsome Choco. I guess all that training with Tsunami really helped!" Said Sean.

"Yup!"


	19. Chappie Special Part I

Meet my new Eevee helper: Chocolate

Chocolate: Hi people! This chappie is a special, so you don't have to read it. It's based on the movie Destiny Deoxy.

Pokebunny: Hey that was my line!

Chocolate: HA!

-------------Anywayz, here's the story---------------

"Excuse me, we are currently out of passengers to go to LaRousse City, will you please ride? I'll give you the ticket for half price. We really need more passengers, the ship will not sail until we have over thirty people and we only have in the twenties, but both of you should fill the number." Said a sailor dressed in a sailor's uniform.

"I guess, I mean we do need a break before the gym…" Said Sean and Choco nodded.

"Aye, just five Pokedollar a ticket." Said the sailor.

Both pulled out the money and handed it to the happy sailor and were led into the boat. It was just a short boat ride, at most half an hour and just as they had arrived, a robotic cube thing greeted them, asked some questions and took a picture of them and gave them a card.

"Welcome to LaRousse City. This is your ID card, used very importantly here. Do not lose it. Thank you for visiting LaRousse." It said in a robotic voice.

"Uh, thank you." Replied Choco awkwardly.

It wasn't everyday that you see a talking cube, let alone talk back to it. The cube's face blanked and turned into a happy face before heading onto other passengers.

"Um, ok…that was weird…" Said Sean as the two stood there sweatdropping.

Choco nodded as they finally continued off the boat. Along the way, they overheard a conversation between two people.

"Hey, who do you think is going to win the Battle Tower?" Asked one.

"I don't know. Maybe it will be that guy from last year." Replied another.

"Oh, there's a battle tower here! I wanna join!" Said Choco as she sprinted off.

"Choco, look out!"

As she started to run in one direction, but something jerked her back as she landed right on top of Sean and Ichigo hit her in the head on Thunder from the impact. She looked down to see moving sidewalks, and the one she had just stepped on was going the opposite way. A voice laughed.

"Need some help?" Said a familiar voice as they looked up to see Kari and Chris.

"Ah! That'd be appreciated." Said Choco sheepishly as she took Kari's hand to get off of Sean.

"Geez, your heavier then you look." He grunted.

Choco smiled innocently as Thunder and Ichigo fell over laughing along with Kari and Chris. When the laughter subsided, Choco asked,

"Why are you two here?"

"Oh, we just wanted to check out something. We heard the rumor that Lugia was coming here." Explained Chris.

"Lugia? Really?" Said Choco excitedly.

"Why is Lugia here?" Asked Sean.

"We aren't sure, so we came to check it out." Said Kari.

"You guys, can we go to the battle tower now?" Asked Choco impatiently.

"Vee!" Added Ichigo.

"Yeah, sure." Said Kari and Choco set off to go onto the forward moving sidewalk.

"Choco!" Said Kari as she caught Choco's arm just before she stepped onto the sidewalk.

"What?" Came the reply.

"The Battle Tower is that way." Said Kari as she pointed in the opposite direction.

"I knew that!" Said Choco as everyone else sweatdropped.

-------------------------------------------------

"Now where is the registration?" Muttered Choco as she weaved through the crowds of people rushing back and forth.

Sean and the others had gone to find seats in the audience as Choco struggled to find where to register. A boy about seventeen walk through the crowd expertly like he knew where he was going.

"Excuse me, do you know how to register for the Battle Tower?" Asked Choco as she stopped him.

The boy glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and smirked,

"Well, if you don't know anything about the Battle Tower, why even bother coming?"

Choco fumed,

"Look, I'm sorry, but I just happened to be new around here." She retorted.

The boy raised an eyebrow as he led her to an elevator.

"You ride these up to the highest floor and don't worry about registration, you are automatically registered when you step into the field." He said as she rushed to catch to the elevator.

"Look, I hate to be paired up with you for the double battles, but just try not to lose, ok? Then in the last round, we face each other." He said.

"We're battling together?" Choco exclaimed.

"You could always step out on any floor and be late for the Tower." He retorted.

Choco pouted at him as man ushered them to onto the field as bright lights shone on her. She noticed a floating cube talking as it announced the double battling teams.

"And in the blue tag team, we have Choco Ketchum and our former champion, Blake Shadowtree." Announced the flying cube.

Choco found her friends waving as she waved back.

"Ready, trainers, start!"

The two easily beat the starting teams, leading them onto the semifinals, then the finals against each other.

"Let's see who's the stronger trainer." Smirked Blake.

"Yeah, and I'm not losing." Retorted Choco.

"Ready, start!" Shouted the excited cube.

"Go Blaziken!" Shouted Blake as the fire/fighting bird appeared out of its ball.

"Go Tsunami!"

Choco's Milotic emerged from its pokeball, and the two got ready to battle.

"Blaziken, use Double Kick!"

"Tsunami, use Mist!"

Blaziken jumped high into the air before coming down just as Tsunami let out a light blue haze. Blaziken coughed from the amount of water in the air and struggled to get out.

"Tsunami, use Hydro Pump!"

Tsunami let out a huge burst of water, but Blaziken managed to see it coming and duck out so it only skimmed its arm.

"That's it Blaziken, use Overheat to get rid of the Mist!"

Blaziken let out a huge fire blast and immediately, the stadium heated up and the Mist dissolved.

"Now, Blaziken, use Sunny Day!"

"Tsunami, cancel it out with Rain Dance!"

As the two battled it off, a dark cloud finally covered the field and it started to rain.

"Blaziken, use Sky Uppercut!" Shouted Blake.

"Tsunami, hit it with a Twister!"

Blaziken's fist glowed as it shot into the air, slamming into Tsunami, but was sent back in a gust of rain and random things. Tsunami staggered from the hit and fainted.

"And the first round goes to Blake Shadowtree!" Shouted the enthusiastic cube.

"Return." Called both trainers at the same time.

"He's good." Muttered Kari.

"He's not only skilled, but he found Choco's weakness." Replied Sean as he scanned their next Pokemon.

"Go Dusty!" Shouted Choco.

"Tyranitar, let's beat them!" Shouted Blake.

Dusty stood face off to its evolved form, a Tyranitar, but it wasn't so much as unnerved. A sandstorm whipped up from Tyranitar's special ability, but blinding only the audience.

"Tyranitar, use Earthquake!"

"Dusty, quick, use Body Slam!"

As Tyranitar picked up its foot and stomped down on the ground, Dusty leaped in the air (somehow) and rammed into Tyranitar. Neither Pokemon took much damage, but it managed to get Tyranitar to stop its attack.

"Dusty, Double Team, do whatever you can to confuse Tyranitar!"

"Tyranitar, close your eyes, use Focus Energy!"

Dusty appeared in multiple copies as it gathered in and out in a circle, pulling back and forth as Tyranitar closed its eyes and started to focus.

"Now Dusty! Use Brick Break!"

Tyranitar, who had its eyes closed, was unaware that Dusty was close to hitting it until Blake called out a warning, but it was too late. Dusty had already slammed into Tyranitar, sending it flying and cringing from the fighting attack, doing four times as just damage.

"Good, now, while its down, send em an Earthquake!" Shouted Choco.

Dusty sent the mighty ground attack towards Tyranitar, and in its weakened state, could not dodge the attack and fainted.

"Tyranitar is unable to battle, Pupitar wins! The second round goes to Choco Ketchum!" Shouted the cube and the stands cheered.

"She won! She won even at a disadvantage!" Shouted Kari happily hugging Chris.

Blake cursed under his breath as he let out his final Pokemon. He didn't use this Pokemon much, but he wasn't going to lose to some amateur.

"Go Golem!"

His mightiest Pokemon stood in front of him as it roared loudly. Choco returned Dusty with a thank you and released her last Pokemon,

"Go Bagel!"

Choco's first Pokemon took the field also and landing with a big stomp.

"Golem, use Rock Slide!"

"Bagel, Earthquake!"

Golem growled as huge boulders fell from the sky at Bagel as it landed harshly on the ground, sending a massive ground attack at Golem, but getting hit by the Rock Slide attack. Both Pokemon took a fair amount of damage as they got up warily.

"Bagel, use Dragonbreath!"

"Golem, evade! Then use Earthquake!"

"Bagel, fly up into the air!"

Bagel sent a huge blast of green flame at Golem, but Golem managed to dodge as it slammed its foot into the ground, sending an Earthquake attack towards Bagel. Bagel opened its wings and took off just seconds before the attack reached it.

"Now, send it a Rock Slide!"

"Oh no, Bagel, try to stop the attack with a Hydro Pump!"

Again, huge rocks fell towards Bagel as it let out two huge water blasts, intertwining with each other and at the same time, the attacks slammed into both Pokemon. Each fell down to the floor and wearily stood up. Neither trainer dared to call an attack for the fear of wasted energy. Finally, Golem tottered on its feet and was about to fall when Bagel's form crashed to the ground first.

"Salamence is unable to battle, Golem wins! This year's Battle Tower results in Blake Shadowtree as the winner!" Declared the cube.

"Nice try Bagel." Said Choco as she returned the mighty dragon into its pokeball.

"I told you that you were weak." Said Blake as he returned his Golem and walked off to claim his prize.

"You just wait. I will beat you." Said Choco, clenching her fists.

Ichigo hopped down from the stands to join Choco as they exited the stadium to meet the rest of the group at the doorway.

"Who was that guy?" Asked Chris, raising an eyebrow.

"You don't even want to know." Replied Choco.

"Hey, I didn't expect to see you guys here." Said a voice from behind as they turned to see Sakura walking over.

"Sakura! Great to see you again!" Said Sean.

"Eh, I don't believe we've met." Said Kari.

"Guys, this is Sakura. We met her after the gym battle at Celadon." Said Choco.

"Nice to meet you." Said Chris, extending his hand for a shake.

"Likewise." Said Sakura, shaking his hand.

"You guys, I heard that there was a park nearby. Let's drop off our things in the PokeCenter and head on there." Said Kari.

"I'm in!" Shouted Choco.

The two boys nodded in agreement as Choco turned to Sakura.

"Coming?" She asked.

Sakura smiled,

"Of course!"

It was already dark as they reached the park and Choco was playing on the swings.

"You guys, let's let out our Pokemon." Suggested Sakura.

"Ok."

Many flashes of light appeared as each trainer's Pokemon emerged from their pokeballs. In front of Kari, there was a Pikachu, a Flaafy, a Furret, a Noctowl, and a Sandslash. Chris' Pokemon appeared nearby as a Skarmory, a Steelix, a Forretress, a Lairon, and a Sableye appeared. Next to Sakura, there was a Houndour named Darkfire, Sunshine the Espeon, three small Eevees, and a Vibrava. Choco's Pokemon appeared before her as Sean's did the same.

"So let's have some fun!" Shouted Choco happily as everyone cheered as started to play.

_Til the end, I will be with you, _

_we will go, _

_where our dreams come true, _

_all the times, _

_that we've through, _

_you will always be my best friend._

"Sableye, use Psychic!"

Sableye's eyes glowed blue and Choco and Sakura's swings were lifted high into the air. The Sableye let go as it bounced the down in the air.

"Hey let us down!" Shouted Sakura laughing.

_Here we are, on a new adventure, _

_danger lurks, somewhere in the darkness. _

_We are set, _

_for adventure even battle, _

_We're a team, no one better mess with us. _

_If we stand as one, _

_that's how it will be, just you and me._

"Pika Pika Pikachu." Chanted Pikachu as it held the held the jump rope for the Pokemon.

"Eevee Eevee Eevee vee." Finished Ichigo, who was holding the other side of the rope.

In the middle, Furret and the three Eevees were jumping. One of them tumbled as Skarmory quickly grabbed it before it could get hurt.

_Til the end, _

_I will be with you, _

_we will go, _

_where our dreams come true, _

_all the times, _

_that we've through, _

_you will always be my best friend._

Steelix and Darkfire were having a roaring contest. Darkfire went first as it let out a small roar. Steelix grinned and let out a huge roar, startling the Pokemon that were playing jump rope and shocking Sableye, who let off its guard as both Sakura and Choco went falling. It recovered quickly as it caught Sakura, but Choco fell into a nearby pool where Forretress, Sky, Bagel, and Tidal were relaxing and splashed them all with water.

_Good friends, _

_are those who stick together, _

_in the sun, _

_and in the heavy weather, _

_yeah! _

_It's smile after smile, _

_that's how it will be, _

_just you and me! _

Tidal roar in unpleasantness and accidentally sent a Water Gun at Sandslash, who was trying to dig a hole. For a couple of moments, everyone was silent, then somebody started laughing. Soon, it spread across the group and both Pokemon and Trainer were laughing.

_Til the end, _

_I will be with you, _

_we will go, _

_where our dreams come true, _

_all the times, _

_that we've through, _

_you will always be my best friend._

"Race ya!" Shouted Choco as she dashed up the tree.

"Hey, no fair!" Shouted Kari and Sakura as they rushed to follow.

"Watch out you guys!" Shouted Chris after them.

Sandslash glanced at the three and noticed Choco was winning. It hopped up to a branch higher the Choco as it showed its sharp claws at Choco.

"No way. Sandslash, don't do that." She said wide-eyed.

Sandslash made sure that someone was down there to catch her as it carefully cut the branch that Choco was holding onto as she fell down…and landed right into Sean's arms.

"Sandslash!" Whined Choco.

_Remember when we first met, _

_oh we had such fun, _

_oh I never will forget! _

_Since then,_

_the times were so good,_

_And we've always stuck together like bestfriends should!_

"You really are really heavy." Grunted Sean from under her.

Choco stuck her tongue out at him as the girls swung down from the tree to the bottom. Sandslash followed, landing on its feet as Choco started to get boiling mad.

"Get back here Sandslash!"

The two chased each other around the park as Kari and Sakura were on the swings and the boys took a race on their flying Pokemon.

_Til the end, _

_I will be with you,_

_We will go,_

_Where our dreams come true,_

_All the times, _

_That we have been through,_

_You will always be my best friend._

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Pokebunny's note:

Hey, so did ya like it? I'll have another chappie to continue this as part two and then I'll get back to the regular plot. Hope ya liked it!

Chocolate: No, it sucked.

Pokebunny: Shut up Chocolate, but please tell me if it really did. Hopefully not. I worked forever on this.


	20. Chappie Special Part II

It was the next morning that Choco awakened first as she got ready to head out for a day of exploring. Upon mid-packing, the rest had awoken and followed her lead. Soon, it was already time to leave.

"First stop, breakfast!" said Sakura happily.

"Me first!" shouted Choco as they raced out of the PokeCenter and to a local restaurant they had recently discovered.

"You guys, wait up!" shouted Chris as both he and the others quickly followed the two energetic girls.

"Slowpoke!" yelled Choco as she turned around to stick her tongue out at the five.

"Get back here!" shouted Sean as he sped up to catch Choco.

Choco took a sharp turn before a wall, as Thunder wasn't as careful before ramming headfirst into the wall.

"Oh my gosh, Thunder! Are you ok?" asked Choco as she jogged back to the thunder cat.

Sakura gave it a small scratch behind the ears as at once, Thunder was up and running again.

"You guys are really going to spoil him bad," muttered Sean. Choco and Sakura gave him innocent smiles.

They finally reached the restaurant in which they finished breakfast and started to explore the city. Suddenly, an earthquake shook the ground as Sean quickly grabbed Choco's arm before a huge chunk of rock landed mere inches from where she was.

"Thanks," she breathed.

They looked around for the rest of the group, only to find them on the other side of the pile of rocks. A tremendous roar filled the skies as they turned up to see Lugia flying high above. Not long after, a familiar green helicopter followed.

"Team Wind," said Sean softly.

Choco huddled close to him as the helicopter landed near them, sending debris to build up upon the wall separating the two from the rest. Ichigo yipped as Thunder helped it dodge some rocks. Ichigo desperately called out to Choco, but there was no way of crossing the rock wall.

A figure stepped out of the helicopter, but a green hood hid the face. Choco could tell that it wasn't Katori, but she couldn't see anything else except for the fact that whoever it was had black hair that stuck out of the side.

"What do you want?" asked Sean as he stood in front of Choco.

Whoever it was smirked, just by the voice, it was obviously a boy, but he was about 14, maybe fifteen,

"We just want the power to control Ho-oh, is that too much to ask?" he replied.

"Well, you are obviously not getting it," said Sean.

"Oh yeah? Battle me for it." Said the boy.

Choco immediately reached for her belt, only to have her hand reach nothing.

"Sean, we left our Pokemon at the center," said Choco, tugging his arm.

"I know, do you think that they can hear us from here?" whispered Sean as he motioned to the rock wall.

"What are you two whispering about?" said whoever it was as the person threw a punch.

Sean was thrown to the wall as Choco rushed to his side.

"Sean? Are you ok?" she asked as she felt his cheek for the injury.

"Call them. Call our Pokemon," said Sean urgently as Choco stood up and yelled out,

"Ichigo, Thunder! You guys, we really need help!"

"We'll throw them over, ok?" said Kari's voice, but it sounded distant.

"Hurry!"

Ichigo was tossed first as it made it to the top of the wall, and struggled to climb over, but made it. Thunder, whoever, was sent somewhere to the top and easily jumped over.

"So you are going to battle," said whoever it was as they let out a Beedrill and a Dragonite.

"T-thunder, use …" Sean never got to finish his sentence before Choco cut him off,

"I'll take care of the battle, you just rest for a while."

He nodded, unable to get anything to come out of his mouth. She was twelve now; she could take care of herself. He, however, was fourteen and was watching her battle, well, it just didn't seem right.

"Ichigo, use Double Team, take Thunder with you!" shouted Choco.

Multiple copies of Jolteons and Eevees filled the arena as the two opposing Pokemon looked around in confusion.

"Dragonite, use Hyper Beam, Beedrill, use Toxic. Aim at different targets!" shouted the boy.

"Thunder, use Thundershock!" shouted Choco.

With the two Pokemon in the middle, thundershocks came from all directions, and hit both Pokemon before either could launch an attack. Beedrill fainted with just that, but Dragonite remained standing. Somehow, it just wasn't hurt too badly.

"Thunder, send them a Thunder attack! Ichigo, use Taunt to cover for Thunder!"

"Dragonite, use Focus Energy, then watch out for that attack!"

Thunder sent storm clouds into the sky as Ichigo stuck its tongue out, taunting the Dragonite. Dragonite ignored it as it closed its eyes to tighten its focus, but was unprepared for the devastating Thunder attack.

White and yellow sparks ran across its body as it fell down to the ground. Even though it was only paralyzed, it seem to take as much harm as if it was poisoned, and was soon drained of energy, and fainted. The boy muttered something about weaknesses and returned his Pokemon.

"Fine, I'll leave you two alone. I'm going after Lugia," he said as he boarded the helicopter and was soon out of sight.

"Sean, are you ok?" asked Choco, kneeling down by his side as she touched his wound lightly.

He winced in pain as she quickly removed her hand with an apology.

"It's ok,"

Her auburn eyes glazed up as she raised a hand to wipe the tears threatening to fall.

"B-but, every time you try to protect me, you get hurt. It's not fair," she said.

His hand reached up to her face, wiping the tears that she had missed.

"I'm fine, see?" he said, gesturing to himself.

"No, sniff, you aren't," replied Choco stubbornly as she dropped her hands back down to her sides.

He placed his hand on top of hers as he sat up from leaning on the wall and stared into her eyes. Choco couldn't move, she was already lost, staring into sapphires as Sean slowly closed in. She didn't object, but was too shocked to move. Closer, closer, until…

……………

…………….

……………

………….

……………

…………..

…………

…………..

…………..

BOOM!

The rock wall crumbled as the two quickly jumped apart while the three others rushed towards them.

"Choco! We were so worried!" shouted Sakura and Kari as they flung their arms around her.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" said Choco as she hugged them back.

Sandslash and Sunshine appeared from behind, worn out and tired. Skarmory landed next to them, and they returned to their respective pokeballs for a nice, long rest.

"You guys, they're after Lugia, we have to help it!" said Choco.

Kari nodded as they followed Lugia's destruction path. Finally, when it ended, they found out they were too late. Lugia was captured between electric rings, shocking the legendary when it tried to escape¸ and repelling any attack that hit its barrier.

"Let it go!" shouted Chris, reaching for one of his pokeballs, but Kari's hand stopped him.

"Its no use, they've won this one," she said quietly as the same boy laughed and the plane disappeared with Lugia, leaving nothing but a destruction path behind. The five, with Ichigo and Thunder, stood there as they to devise a plan to save the legendary, but first, they had to get back to Fuchsia City.


	21. Safari Trouble

"Crobat, use Supersonic!"

A purple bat with sharp wings let out yellow waves that traveled towards the opposing Pokemon.

"Dusty, dodge, then use Rock Slide!"

A Pupitar jumped out of the way just as it was about to be hit and sent rocks tumbling from the sky, hitting Crobat and making the exhausted Pokemon faint.

"Koga is unable to battle, Choco Ketchum is the winner!" said the judge.

Choco immediately rushed towards her Pokemon as she hugged the huge Pupitar before returning it with thanks. Her friends came down from the stands and congratulated her as the Poison gym leader handed her the badge.

"You battled well. Not many have defeated Crobat. Take this as a proof of your victory."

"Thank you," said Choco.

They walked out of the gym and to the light blue skies of Fuchsia City. Despite the wonderful weather, one thing remained a mystery to Choco. Why hadn't Ho-oh come in rescue of Lugia? Obviously, the mighty sea lord had called for help, but why hadn't any Pokemon, not even those in the water, take charge?

"I call ice cream! In celebration for Choco's new badge!" said Chris and the rest agreed instantly.

Choco ordered a huge mint chocolate chip while Kari and Sakura asked for strawberry. Sean got chocolate, and Chris got vanilla. They relaxed and let out their Pokemon. Ichigo jumped onto Choco's shoulders, grabbed a large portion of her ice cream, and sped off to the other side of the park.

"Ichigo, get back here! I had to pay for that ice cream! Get your own!" shouted Choco as she chased the small dog.

Almost grabbing it, it leaped into a stranger's arms as she stop just centimeters from colliding with whoever it was.

"I believe this is yours?"

She looked up to see a boy about Sean's age handing Ichigo to her. Obviously, it had finished the ice cream with small pieces of the remaining on its fur. Choco sighed,

"Yeah. Thanks."

"I see it stole your ice cream?" asked the boy.

Ichigo smiled evilly as it yipped. Choco looked at her empty cone,

"Ichigo! You could have left a little bit inside!" she whined.

The boy laughed,

"Nice Pokemon you got there," he said as he reached down to pet it.

"Very," grumbled Choco.

"What's your name?" he asked Choco as he stood back up.

"Me? I'm Choco Ketchum. That's…Ichigo," said Choco.

"Nice to meet you, I'm King, King Romero," said King.

They shook hands as Choco finally got a good look at him. He certainly was handsome, black hair that had bangs sticking out in front, with striking golden eyes that immediately caught her attention. He smiled as she returned it.

"I'll buy you ice cream, Ichigo seems to have finished it for you," he said.

"Ah, no, thanks anyways. I really got to get back to my friends. I'll see ya later!" said Choco as she waved and ran back to her friends.

King watched her run as he joined a group of older teens and started chatting with them. She turned back and waved as he smiled and waved back. Somehow, she just gave him a warm feeling in his heart.

--------------------------

"Come on, you guys! Please, just ten minutes!" begged Kari.

She and Sakura wanted to go to a clothes shop, while the other three glanced in disgust at racks of clothes.

"Last time you said that we were in there for an hour," said Chris, as he leaned against the brick wall alongside the door.

"Please?" pleaded Sakura.

"No," said all three at the same time.

"Choco!" shouted a familiar voice.

Choco turned to see King running up to her as she waved back just as he got to the group.

"Hey King!" replied Choco.

Kari nudged Choco lightly,

"Introduce us!"

Choco blushed in embarrassment,

"King, these are my friends, Kari, Sakura, Chris, and Sean. Guys, this is King Romero."

Introductions were made quickly as the five totally forgot about the shopping argument and just hung out, wandering around Fuchsia City.

"So, King, where were you from?" asked Kari.

"Me? Oh, I was born in Cherrygrove City, but I pretty much spent my life in Kanto," replied King.

"Hey! Isn't that the Safari Zone?" asked Sakura pointing to a beige building with a thatched roof.

Choco's eyes widened,

"I heard you could catch rare Pokemon in there! Can we go in? PLEASE?"

After a quick vote, all six of them had decided to go into the Safari Zone, just for a while, fifteen minutes at most. They paid the entrance fee as they stepped into the tall grass of the Safari Zone. A shuffle in the grass startled King as he bent over slightly to see what Pokemon had made the noise. A black ear poked out of the grass as the six froze where they were. What kind of Pokemon would have a black ear?

Choco ran through the known Pokemon list in her head, just as King bent down, slowly and softly, trying not to scare the Pokemon as he grabbed something from his pocket. Food. The Pokemon seemed to smell it as the dark ear inched closer. King's eyes widened in shock of the Pokemon, uncommonly seen anywhere. Now, it was close as the sunlight helped their vision. On the black ear, was a blue strip, running horizontally across.

All except for King still had no clue what the Pokemon was, and when the Pokemon was close enough to eat, Choco hesitantly took a step forwards, but was stopped by a quick motion of King's hand. Slowly, he pulled a safari ball out of his belt and put it out to the Pokemon. It sniffed the ball, and its nose poked the button to open it, capturing the Pokemon inside.

King gave a sigh of relief as the rest of the group rushed towards him and the pokeball.

"What Pokemon is it?" asked Choco.

King smiled as he grabbed Choco's hand and dropped the ball into it,

"Well, we'll just have to see."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pokebunny: Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry that took so long to update! I was so busy, studying for the finals at school! I'm make sure the next chappie is longer, way longer!

Chocolate: Enjoy! PS: Pokebunny had a huge writers block too. PPS: I'm getting LOTS of candy just typing this useless sentence.


	22. Jealousy

Choco nodded and let out the Pokemon. In a flash of red light, a dark Pokemon formed, and it cringed from the sunlight. Blue rings over its body glowed radiantly as two red eyes cut through everything in its path. The group stared in awe as the Pokemon stared back.

"I-It's an Umbreon," stuttered Sakura.

"Not just any Umbreon, it's a shiny one too," said Sean.

The Umbreon hissed, as if saying that their remarks were stupid and obvious. Choco reached out a hand to pet it, and it immediately crouched into a defensive position.

"Well, it's going to need some training," Said King, looking at Choco.

Choco nodded in agreement,

"But who could take the Umbreon? We can't just leave it here."

King smiled at her, she was so naïve.

"How about you?" he asked.

"Me? But, I don't know how to train Umbreons, I've only had dragon Pokemon," objected Choco.

Kari caught his drift, and added,

"Well, then, here's your chance."

The Umbreon looked at the Safari ball in Choco's hands and raised an eyebrow. Choco sighed, obviously outnumbered, and put her hand out to the Umbreon again,

"Come on, I won't hurt you."

To her surprise, it walked closer and put its nose into her hand.

"Not bad," commented Sean.

Suddenly, a chomping could be heard along with Choco's cry of: "OW!"

Sean sighed,

"I take that back."

-------------------------------------------------------

They had split up into three groups, since the six together was obviously to loud and big, and, to Sean displease, Choco was with King. Well, nobody really decided, they drew sticks. The two set off towards the river, carrying rented Super Rods along with Artemis, the Umbreon's nickname, which had been returned to its pokeball after the incident with the biting.

They set their poles into the water as Ichigo sat on the side of the river, watching the hopeless task of King trying to teach Choco how to aim for the best parts of the river. Choco's line started to shake as her face lit up,

"I think I got a big one!"

As she kept tugging, the other end wouldn't let go, and soon, it was winning. King grabbed her reel as he started to help. He placed his hand over hers as with the other hand, kept his balance. Together, they gave a huge tug, and finally, a huge shadow loomed over them. They looked up to see…

-------------------------------------------------------

Sean sighed at kicked a rock into a random part of the grass for the millionth time. Sakura glanced at him from the corner of her eye,

"You know, you're going to scare the Pokemon within a mile's radius if you keep that up."

He nodded distractedly as he continued his sulking matter. A brave Chansey stepped out of the bushes as Sakura grabbed his arm and said,

"Look, that's really rare! You really gotta catch it!"

Sean glanced up at the Pokemon facing them,

"You can have it."

Sakura frowned. What was his problem? Well, the answer to that question was obvious. She shook her head, promising herself to deal with it later, and focused on catching the pink egg Pokemon, and finally managed to, after wasting about ten of her balls.

"Look, you really think that getting Choco is going to be easier if you sit around and sulk all day?" she asked.

He shrugged,

"I can try."

Sakura pouted, out of patience, and was about to say something, when a huge roar interrupted them. Sean's eyes nearly shot of their sockets,

"It's from the river!"

-----------------------------------------------------

"A-A Gyarados!" said King, surprised to see the huge Pokemon in front of them.

It had been rare enough seeing an Umbreon in the middle of the zone, but now the all mighty Gyarados? What was with the Pokemon these days?

Choco's hand swept her pokeball as she let out Umbreon, nicknamed Artemis, and the dark Pokemon landed swiftly on its feet, happy to be out of its 'prison'. It glared at the powerful Pokemon in front of it. The Gyarados was clearly upset from the distraction of whatever it was doing and launched out a huge Hyper Beam.

"Artemis! Get out of there!"

The Umbreon didn't listen, instead, staring at the huge beam of orange.

"ARTEMIS!"

Artemis didn't move, it couldn't. The beam was getting closer, and Choco couldn't stand watching it get hurt. She threw herself onto Artemis, getting the Pokemon out of the way at the last second, but taking the Hyper Beam. The Gyarados, happy with its result, dived back into the water. King rushed over to Choco and examined her injury. She had been lucky, it only grazed her, but it had also left a huge cut in her arm. Her other hand tried her block the bleeding, but blood came out quickly.

"Choco!"

She turned immediately at the sound of Sean's voice, to see the other two running towards them.

"I'm ok, how's Artemis?"

The Dark Eevee evolution nodded its head, as if to say thanks and turned away before receiving more embarrassment.

"That cut is definitely not ok, we better get it cleaned first," said King, helping her get up and walk to the stream.

Sean 'humph'-ed in irritation, but was held back by Sakura.

"Don't make a fight now, Choco's hurt," she whispered.

King dampened a cloth and dabbed Choco's wound, in which Choco winced in pain. After the cut was clean, King took out a handkerchief from his bag to wrap around the cut.

"It's ok, I'll grab mine, or else I'll get your cloth all dirty," said Choco, making a move to get up.

King shook his head,

"You need rest right now, I'll use mine and later you can return the favor," he said easily.

His golden eyes pierced hers, and Choco tried to answer, but nothing came out. She blushed and nodded, suddenly the ground seemed so interesting. Carefully, King wrapped his handkerchief over her wound, and Choco flinched, small tears piled in the corners of her eyes.

"Aw, come on, don't cry. It's not that deep, it should heal in a few days," said King as he wiped them away with his thumbs.

Choco nodded, giving him a small smile. He returned it, and Sean glared at the two in jealousy. It wasn't fair.

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Pokebunny: Sorry 'bout the wait, I was out and I didn't have a computer.

Chocolate: Hope ya like it!


	23. Words have a mind of their own

"How do we get to Cinnabar Island?" asked Choco, peering over Sean's shoulder to look at the map.

"We could take that route from Fuchsia City and surf there, or we could fly to Pallet Town and surf from there," replied Sean.

"Which one's closer?" asked Kari.

King thought for a minute,

"The one from Fuchsia is closer, then when we get to the island and beat the gym leader, we could take the route to Pallet, rest a while, then join the Pokemon league near Viridian."

"Wow, King, you really know your way around Kanto," praised Choco, starry-eyed.

"Well, thanks, I travel a lot," replied King breezily as Sean's eye twitched.

"Does everyone have a Pokemon that knows surf?" asked Chris.

"I do," said King.

"Me and Sean do too, but what about you three? None of you have water Pokemon," said Choco.

"We'll fly right above the water, we all have flying Pokemon," suggested Sakura.

"Well, then, let's get going!"

At the same time, six flashes of red light appeared. Noctowl, Skarmory, and Vibrava called out as they took a lift into the sky, soaring around. In the water, were Tsunami and Tidal. Another Feraligatr stood on land, next to King.

"King, you have a Feraligatr too?" asked Choco.

The massive water Pokemon turned its head at Choco and smiled, holding out a hand. Choco blinked, staring at it blankly. King walked up next to Choco and whispered into her ear,

"I think it wants a handshake."

Immediately Choco's eyes lit up as she ran over to the Pokemon, putting out her hand. They shook hands as Choco smiled,

"That's a really cool Feraligatr, you're so lucky!"

King smiled,

"It was my starter in Johto, started as a Totodile."

"Really? That's exactly like Sean, right?"

Feraligatr turned its head to look at Sean and blinked a couple times, studying him. Its mouth opened as a spray of water came out, soaking Sean. Choco couldn't hold in a giggle, as it escaped her mouth.

Tidal glared at the four, and Ichigo shivered under the gaze. It took a deep breath, and Choco caught it in time,

"I sure King's Feraligatr didn't mean it, please don't start a fight, let's just get to Cinnabar," said Choco quickly, standing between the two Feraligatr.

Tidal glared at her and she gulped, but it turned around, letting Sean board its back, and took off without a word. King smiled at her,

"Shall we?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Ok!" said Choco, blushing a light shade of red while taking his hand as he helped her onto Tsunami.

Kari dipped her Noctowl down to near Tidal, and when Sean glanced up at her, she smirked,

"You really need to hurry up or Choco'll fall for King."

Sean glared at her as she rose back up into the air to join the other three flying. Choco whispered something to Tsunami as it sped up to catch up with Tidal. King's Feraligatr was about to follow, but King held it back.

"Sean, what's wrong?" asked Choco, catching up to him.

He glanced at her,

"Nothing."

He sped up Tidal, and Tsunami sped up to catch up.

"Sean, seriously, I don't know what to do when you're like that," said Choco.

"Well, then don't do anything and leave me alone," he replied icily and Tidal sped up, except this time Choco made no move to follow.

His words stung, and tiny tears sprouted from her eyes. Quickly, she hid them from burying her face into Tsunami's soft fur. _What did I do wrong? Why does he hate me?_

There was no more time to think about it, as they had already arrived at the island. Quickly, she wiped away her tears, and greeted her friends with a false smile and headed towards the gym after returning Tsunami, eyes glued to the floor. Somewhere distant, she heard her name called, but she ignored it, and instead broke off into a run, crystal tears flying behind her. She didn't want to face them right now; she just wanted to be alone.

Finding a tree, she sat down under it, leaning into the rough bark as she buried her face into her knees. She was alone, but something didn't feel right. _I don't want to be alone._ Tears squeezed out of her eyes. Why did it hurt so much from just a few words? Or was it because he still hadn't apologized, and instead ignored her when she needed him?

She felt someone sit down next to her, and softly, her name was called. She hastily wiped her tears, and looked up to see soft golden eyes.

"Are you ok?" asked King, holding out a small piece of cloth.

Her eyes watered again and she took it from him gratefully. His hands touched her shoulders gently, as Choco closed her eyes, trying to stop new tears. She leaned towards him as he whispered comforting words into her ear. Slowly, her tears stopped, and she rested her head in his chest as his arms wrapped around her. When the tears stopped, she raised her head and smiled at him,

"Thank you," she murmured.

King stood up and bowed, holding out his hand to Choco,

"May I have the honor in escorting my lady back?"

Choco giggled, putting her hand in his,

"Of course, my prince."

Cherry blossoms whipped around her, and the wind blew her hair around as King glazed at her. She was beautiful, how could anyone be so stupid into throwing her away?

------------------------------------------------------------

"What did you say to her?" accused Kari.

Sean shrugged nonchalantly.

"Excuse me? Aren't you going to apologize?" said Sakura.

Another shrug.

"Don't you even care?"

"No. Not when she has King," said Sean.

Sakura shook his shoulders,

"Look, I know you're jealous of King, but you can't just throw her away like that. You could at least try."

"I did."

"Well, try again. You're going to apologize to Choco, whether you like it or not."

Kari dragged him in the direction, in which Choco and King went and pushed him towards the sidewalk,

"Hurry up before they come back."

Sean rolled his eyes before walking down the white pavement. He arrived at a corner, and was about to turn with he saw Choco, putting her hand into King's, giggling.

"Of course, my prince."

Sean could feel his heart torn into pieces. Didn't Choco care at all about him? Why did King have to come along and take her away?

He turned away, unable to keep watching. She didn't need him. At all.

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Pokebunny: Whew! Finally back on track. Did cha like it?

Chocolate: sniff so sweet

Pokebunny: Excuse Chocolate, she chomping on candy. In fact, she doesn't even know I wrote this. Anywayz, don't forget to read and review! Just press the purple button right there below my blabbling. And quit hugging your candy Chocolate!


	24. A close encounter

"There she is!" said Sakura, pointing to the street where Choco and King were walking back.

The other two turned towards that direction, and Choco broke away from her grasp with King and ran towards them,

"I'm so sorry about when I came to the island, I don't know what came over me!" apologized Choco.

"Don't worry 'bout it, now, we're all here, let's beat that gym leader!" said Kari excitedly.

"All? Hey, where's Sean?" asked Choco, looking around.

Sakura blinked,

"He went to look for you, didn't you see him?"

"Oh no, wait here, I'll look for him from above," said Choco, pushing a button to release Bagel.

"I'll come with you, you three can search from the ground," Said Sakura, letting out her Vibrava.

Kari nodded,

"Let's meet back here in an hour, ok?"

Choco and Sakura nodded before the two Dragon Pokemon lifted into the sky. For up above, the island seemed so small, yet once one set foot, it seemed to be a huge maze, stringing in and out. Choco noticed none of this as her chocolate eyes desperately scanned the island for any trace of Sean.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Sean glanced at the pokeball he held in his hands. If he let it out, he would never worry about Choco, or anybody else, again. Instead, he could fly home, and then maybe explore Johto. Suddenly, a roar filled the sky as two Pokemon flew above him. One was definitely Bagel, as only it would let out such a huge roar. Quickly, he threw his pokeball into the air, calling out his Charizard and sitting on its back.

"We're going home buddy," he said softly.

Aeroblaze looked at him strangely. Surely, Choco couldn't have completed the league yet; it didn't start for another couple weeks, so why was his master planning on going home? It looked at Thunder, standing by its master's side. The thunder cat turned away, avoiding questions. A distant cry of 'Sean!' alerted the fire lizard's attention. Aeroblaze frowned at its master's decision, refusing to fly until it got further information.

"Please, Aeroblaze, just this once, you have to trust me. Choco doesn't want me here," whispered Sean softly.

The shout was getting closer, even louder. A huge roar from Bagel as Aeroblaze refused to accept its master's orders, vowing that this was the only time it would do that. Instead, it let out a smokescreen, hoping that Bagel would understand the sign. Sean's eyes widened in disbelief of its behavior. Thunder turned back and the two Pokemon shared a smile.

"Aeroblaze, just, please, fly me home and I promise you a full explanation," promised Sean.

The fire lizard shook its head, as if it were trying to make Sean realize that Choco needed him. They had many fights before, but none were as bad as this, Sean had never wanted to give up and go away, it wasn't his style.

"Sean!"

From the opening the alleyway, there stood Choco, panting as if she was running for quite a while. Even in her condition, she continued to sprint towards him. Sean glared at her.

"What point of 'leave me alone' don't you get?" he asked harshly.

Aeroblaze snorted in displeasure at its master's attitude, but was ignored.

"Sean, come on, let's go back," said Choco softly.

Sean turned to face the walls, refusing to look at Choco,

"What do they need me for, I'll just cause more trouble. I'm going back to Hoenn. You guys don't need me. Besides, no body even realized I was gone."

"Sean, everybody's looking for you. You're not worthless, you do practically all the work around here, and we would break apart without you. It doesn't seem right…"

Her voice trailed off, and she wished that she wasn't arguing with his backpack. She felt useless as she made a weak attempt to touch his arm as comfort, but he shrugged it off immediately. Suddenly, a gust of wind picked up as they turned up to see the Team Wind helicopter land close the their alleyway.

"Well they sure have the best timing," muttered Choco, rushing away from Sean to find their location.

Katori stepped out of the plane, followed by the same hooded figure that captured Lugia.

"What do you want?" asked Choco.

"Oh, nothing. I came to check my little fire orb. I needed to make sure you were ready for the final battle," said Katori sweetly.

"The final battle? What's that? And who am I against?" asked Choco.

The hooded man laughed,

"Why of course, the bearer of the water orb, who else?"

"Who's the bearer of the water orb?" questioned Choco.

"Tsk tsk, didn't your mother tell you it was impolite to question people like that," replied Katori.

"So who is it?"

The hooded figure laughed, walking forwards, he swept his cloak over Choco's body, one arm around her waist, the other pushing her chin up as his dark eyes penetrated her light brown ones,

"Do you really want to know?" he asked as Choco struggled to get out of his grasp.

"Let me go!" exclaimed Choco, but his hand had pinned both hers behind her back.

The more she struggled, the more tightly he held on, until Choco could no longer move. She closed her eyes, tears falling from the side as she braced herself. His hot breath caressed her skin as he nibbled her ear tauntingly,

"First, let's have some fun."

----------------------------------------------

"Choco!" shouted Sakura again.

Her friend had decided to land and investigate some smoke, and she had gone to meet up with the other three. Yet still Choco had not come back, and neither was there any sign of the smoke or Sean. Again, she was up in the sky with King as the two searched franticly for the missing duo.

From the ground, Kari and Chris ran from street to street, looking for both of them.

"Over there!" said Kari, pointing to a Flamethrower that rose into the sky. Quickly, they followed the pathway. A green airplane caught their attention.

"Team Wind…" said Chris.

"We have to hurry, they might be in trouble," said Kari, as both of the sped up.

From street to street, alley to alley they finally reached their destination.

---------------------------------------------------

"She said, let go!" said Sean, one of his arms wrapped protectively around her.

She had one of her sleeves torn off, and her usual ponytail was messed up, but other than that, she was ok, except for the point in which she was crying from fright.

"Oh, and we were supposed to follow her instructions?" Katori asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sean rolled his eyes,

"That would be nice."

"Choco, Sean!" shouted a voice as two pairs of feet rushed towards their location.

Kari appeared first in the entrance of the alleyway. Suddenly, her eyes widened at Katori,

"Sis?"


	25. Against Blaine

The two girls stood in shock for a while before Katori recovered first. With a wave of her hand, both were quickly on the helicopter and a safe distance away. Kari shook her head, snapping herself out of it as she rushed over to Choco, checking her friend's condition.

Choco seemed fine; her tears had slowed from pouring down her face, and instead flowed down in small waterfalls. She clung onto Sean as if she was holding on for her life. Her friend had arrived at the perfect time.

"Choco? Are you ok?" asked Sean softly.

Her eyes watered again as she buried her face in his chest, using his shirt to wipe her constant tears,

"I'm scared, I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared!"

Kari's eyes turned sympathetic at the small girl, it wasn't right to expose her to such things. She laid a hand on Choco's back, soothing her softly. Her sniffles slowed as she looked up again, smiling weakly at her three friends,

"I'll be alright," she said.

"Really? Are you sure you're ok? Don't push it, we'll give you some time," offered Chris.

Choco shook her head,

"I'm fine, really."

Kari nodded slowly as Sean let go of her,

"If you say so."

The wind picked up again as they turned to the source. The flying Pokemon landed as Sakura and King landed in front of the alley. Immediately they rushed towards the four.

"Choco, are you ok?" asked King.

Choco smiled, a real genuine smile,

"You guys have no idea how many times I've been asked that."

"Hey, we care for ya, or else what are friends for?" said Sakura, punching her friend lightly on the arm.

Choco giggled, putting out her arms around the shoulders of the two other girls and facing the rest of the group,

"You guys are the bestest friends ever!"

-------------------------------------

After getting some new clothes for Choco, they settled on keeping the rest of the day easy, and her gym battle would be tomorrow. The day passed by quickly, and Sean was back in the group. After hanging out a while in the PokeCenter, Choco sniffled a yawn,

"Well, I'm off to sleep, see ya guys tomorrow!"

Sean retired to bed next soon followed by Sakura and King. Chris got up,

"I'm going to get a drink, want something?"

Kari smiled at her friend and shook her head,

"No thanks, I'll be right here."

Chris nodded at Kari before walking away. Kari stared at the glowing embers of the fireplace, warming the PokeCenter at night. She let a soft sigh escape her lips as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back onto the chair cushion as her thoughts wandered. Suddenly, Katori's image appeared her head. She let out another sigh as abruptly, a voice startled her, opening her eyes to meet familiar green ones.

"Chris, you scared me!"

Chris laughed as he watched her pouted at him before crossing her arms, glaring at him. Moving a chair next to her, he glanced at her,

"Thinking about Katori?" he asked.

Kari looked away,

"No," she lied.

"Come on, I know you were. Wanna talk about it?" asked Chris.

Kari looked at her best friend for a while. Finally, giving up in defeat, she slumped down in her chair as she started to tell the story of what she remembered.

--------------Kari's story---------------

"Sis, come on, let's go to the park. Please, before you leave?" asked eight-years-old Kari as she begged her older sister.

Katori laughed at her younger sister,

"Fine, only for a while, I'm excited to start my journey with the Swablu dad gave me."

"Thanks! You're the best!"

The two said good-bye to their parents, rushing along the soft Cherrygrove summer air. Katori let out her Pokemon, letting it enjoy the fresh air.

"Swa!" it cried flapping its wings.

"Wow, a Swablu. Doesn't it evolve into a dragon Pokemon?" asked Kari, staring at the cotton Pokemon.

"Yup, I'm going to go around, collecting flying and Dragon Pokemon," said Katori.

They played around with Swablu for a while, and when the sun was starting to set, Katori said,

"Well, Kari, you should get home, I'll start and when I get to Violet Town I'll give you a call, okay?"

Kari nodded at her older sister,

"Promise?"

"Promise."

--------------End of story--------------

"But she never called us, I waited for days, weeks, but the phone never rang. I haven't heard from her since," concluded Kari.

Her eyes glazed up, and she turned away from him, facing the flames as a single tear dropped.

"Hey, don't cry," said Chris, placing his hand under her chin and turning her head towards him.

Kari took a shaky breath and calmed down. She gave a small smile,

"I really am starting to become a lot like Choco aren't I?"

Chris smiled, his eyes twinkling with amusement,

"Maybe, but she's different, unique. She's the fire orb bearer."

"I know, you've reminded me a million times. But I can't help but wonder who the water orb bearer is," said Kari.

Now it was Chris' turn to turn away,

"I know who it is. Remember, opposites are attracted."

Kari looked at him in confusion. Suddenly, her eyes widened,

"No way…"

------------------------------------

The next morning was bright and sunny, almost as if to tell them to forget their troubles. Choco stood in front of the last gym, looking up at the fire sign. It shouldn't be that much trouble, especially since she had Dragon Pokemon. But if she had learned one thing during her travels, it was to not underestimate gym leaders; she had almost lost to Koga that way.

The Viridian Gym had moved to Lavender Town, so if she beat this, she was headed towards the League, then the Elite Four, and then the Champion of Kanto. It seemed so fast, like yesterday she had just met her friends, started her journey with Ichigo.

She pushed open the door, immediately noticing the heat wave inside. Certainly not very comfortable, especially in the middle of summer.

"Are ya gonna stand there all day or go inside?" came Sakura's voice.

"But its so hot inside…" complained Choco.

Finally, she entered, looking for the gym leader. An old man in the back caught her attention,

"Excuse me, do you know where the gym leader is?"

Behind her, Sean and Sakura both slapped their heads at the same time. The old man looked up,

"I am the gym leader here."

Choco got a clear view of him now. He wore a white lab suit, with a huge matching white mustache and glasses.

"Oh, really? Then I challenge you to a gym battle," said Choco.

The man nodded, calling out the judge as the stood face to face. The judge pressed a button, and the field in front of them flipped around, turning into molten lava with few platforms (kinda like the one in Cerulean, except for the water is lava).

"This is a one on one battle, Gym Leader Blaine against Choco Ketchum, BEGIN!"

Blaine reached for his pokeball, letting out his Pokemon first. A Charizard materialized, giving a huge roar as it flapped its massive wings and rose into the air.

"Go Crystal!"

An elegant Dragonair followed the suit, rising into the air. The Pokemon stared at each other, trying to find a weakness. The judge waved up the flags, and the two started to call out attacks:

"Charizard, use Seismic Toss!"

"Crystal, stay where you are, let Charizard pick you up!"

Crystal nodded, watching as Charizard came closer, its claws outstretched to grab it. Rising into the air with the Dragon Pokemon, Charizard looped around, forming a circle, like a globe.

"Now, Crystal, use Twister!"

The Dragonair sent out a cry as particles of leaves, seeds, etc rose, and using Charizard's spinning, formed itself into a surrounding circle.

"She's using the seismic toss to her advantage," said Kari, amazed,

"Charizard, look out! Land!"

To Blaine's frustration, Charizard couldn't see in the circle of debris, taking huge amounts of damage. It blindly set a diving course, and its knowledge of the field saved it from too much harm, landing safely on a platform.

Crystal retreated back to its side, glaring at the fire lizard. Blaine looked at the dragon, and an idea came to mind,

"Charizard, another Seismic toss!"

"Crystal, do what you did last time!"

Again, particles surrounded the two, but this time, Blaine had a plan. He looked up at Charizard, taking some damage, but all in all fine, and same with Crystal.

"Now, use Flamethrower!"

Charizard let out another roar, and this time, flames lit the circle, and since the particles were flammable, a whirlwind of fire surrounded the circle. Charizard opened its eyes, going faster as the flames whipped stronger. Choco looked worriedly at her Pokemon, but she couldn't think of anything to save it.

"Crystal, try to break free!" she called out helplessly.

Crystal gritted its teeth (or something like that) and closed its eyes. Suddenly, it turned white as Charizard let go of it, startled. Its figure changed, becoming more of a bigger Pokemon, and wings sprouted from its back. A new Dragonite appeared, giving a roar as it returned to battle.

"Crystal evolved!" Choco pulled out her PokeDex, and it beeped as info about the Pokemon came out:

Dragonite, the Dragon Pokemon, is an extremely rare marine Pokemon. It is said to match the intelligence of humans.

"Crystal, do you think you can continue?"

Her Dragonite nodded rising into the air with new energy.

"Use Rain Dance!"

A cloud surrounded the field, and small drizzles poured out. Charizard's wing flew in front of its tail, protecting it.

"Now, use Surf!"

A huge wave whooshed towards Charizard, and Blaine called,

"Charizard, get out of there!"

"Crystal, don't let Charizard move, use Leer!"

Crystal gave a sharp glare, reducing Charizard's defense as Charizard froze, allowing it to get hit with the Surf, and faint. Blaine returned his Pokemon and laughed,

"Well, haven't gotten quite a battle like that for years, not since your father came and beat me. Good job, you deserve this badge."

He dropped the Volcano Badge into Choco's hand,

"Thank you sir!"

Blaine nodded and the six left the gym, getting ready to face the Pokemon League next. But unknown to them, there were greater challenges along the way, ones that a small mistake could be the difference of life and…death.

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Pokebunny: Whew! Longest chappie so far! Well, thanks for reading and please review! Oh, and to akkiangel: your character's in the next chappie!

Chocolate: what she's trying to say is to review please! PLEASE! For every review, I get a piece of chocolate, so PLEASE REVIEW!


	26. I'm sorry

"Can we head back to Pallet Town now?" asked Choco.

"Excited to go back home?" teased Sean.

"Hey, I miss 'em!" said Choco defensively.

Kari laughed,

"Well, first, we have to catch the next ferry, it's too far to surf and there are no islands between to rest on."

King nodded,

"And if the PokeNav is right, there should be a dock somewhere around here."

The six of them looked around, as if in search of something along the wonderful bright beach of Cinnabar, and a huge house with a boat sign caught their attention.

"Over there guys!" shouted Chris.

Kari nodded as they ran into the house and up to the counter,

"We would like six tickets for the next ferry," said Choco.

The woman at the counter nodded as they paid for their tickets,

"The next ferry leaves in ten minutes, and we've started to board. Please step this way."

The six followed the lady towards a small ferry with not too many people on it. They thanked her as they headed out onto the deck. Except for them and another girl, it was empty. The girl fingered her pokeballs in her belt and let out six Pokemon. An Arcanine, Rapidash, Pidgeot, Lapras, Metagross, and Grumpig appeared.

"A Lapras!" squealed Sakura, "I've always wanted one of those."

The girl turned around at the voice and smiled,

"Hello, I'm Trina Triton."

"I'm Choco Ketchum, nice to meet cha."

The rest of the introductions were passed quickly and soon they were all talking like old friends. Trina was from Hoenn, and she had competed in the Hoenn League, but lost at third place. She had come to Pallet Town to get a starter from Professor Oak, and then travel around Kanto and wait for the next Indigo League to compete in after she had gained the last badge at Lavender Town. She had recognized Sean immediately, for she had seen his picture at the League.

A bell rang through the boat as the announcements blared form the speakers all around,

"We have now docked at Pallet Town, please exit from the main door located below the deck. Thank you for riding Ocean Ferry."

"Well, I guess I'll see you later then," said Trina.

"Yeah, I can't wait to battle you at the league," said Choco.

"Well, until then!" said Trina waving as she headed towards the exit of the building.

"Chu!" shouted a familiar voice as a Pikachu bounced over.

"Pika! Long time no see!" said Choco.

She bent down to the Pikachu's eye level as she scratched it behind the ears, and it gave a delighted 'chu'.

"Where's dad?"

"Choco, over here!" shouted Misty's voice.

"Mom, Dad!"

Choco ran up to her parents, hugging them tightly. Misty broke out first,

"Who are your friends?"

Again, introductions passed through the group.

"Well, our house is pretty big, so it'd probably fit all of you, so how 'bout it?" asked Ash.

"Ah, its ok Mr. Ketchum, we'd probably just stay at the PokeCenter," said Kari.

Choco poked her friend's arm,

"Uh, well, Pallet Town's kinda small, so the PokeCenter here doesn't have rooms…"

"So I guess that means your staying over then. We have to leave for a meeting in a few minutes so, Choco, why don't you show them around?" asked Misty.

After dragging Ash along with her, Choco turned back towards the group,

"Well, we could drop off our Pokemon at Professor Oak's lab, meanwhile I'll sign up for the league and then I'll show you guys around here."

King shrugged,

"Sounds good to me."

The rest nodded in agreement as Choco took the slanted pathway up towards the lab, knocking politely on the door. A voice of 'come in' sounded through the door as Choco pushed it open. Professor Oak looked up from his work,

"Ah, Choco, brought some friends back I see. You must be here to sign up at for the league challenge?"

Choco nodded as Professor Oak handed her a piece of paper and a pen, showing her how to fill up the form.

"Oh, yeah, Professor, could we heal our Pokemon somewhere?" asked Choco.

Professor Oak nodded and motioned for a machine at the back of the room. The five nodded their thanks as they headed towards it,

"Sean!" called Choco.

Sean turned around at his name.

"Could you heal my Pokemon for me?" asked Choco.

"Sure."

She handed him her Pokebelt as she kept Ichigo by her side. Professor Oak noticed her Eevee immediately,

"Well, you seem to be taking very good care of it."

Choco nodded,

"But why doesn't it evolve yet?"

Professor Oak smiled, answering her question with one of his own,

"Does Ichigo want to evolve?"

Her Eevee shook its head.

"You see," explained Professor Oak, "A Pokemon that evolves from happiness will evolve when it's happy enough, but another part in this evolution is will. If your Eevee doesn't want to evolve, then it will not exceed the requirements to evolve."

Choco nodded while filling in the form. Finally finishing it, she handed it back to the professor. He nodded in acceptance and called a Pidgey over and attached the registration form into its leg. It rose into the air, leaving out the open window. Again, they thanked the professor before leaving.

"Well, I guess this is it. Where do you guys want to go?" asked Choco.

"I need a bite to eat. Let's eat dinner and call it a night," offered Chris.

"Ok, I know the best restaurants around here, follow me!"

Choco led the way through lighted streets finally stopping in front of a regular looking restaurant.

"This is the best place around here, they make the best food," she said.

The group nodded, entering the small café. After being shown a table and ordering their food, they sat down and talked for a while. Dinner passed quickly as they returned to Choco's house, where they were going to stay. Choco showed her guests their bedrooms, each one to a separate room, and retired to her own. She showered in warm water, and then wrapped a white towel around her before stepping out of the bathroom while combing her hair.

Her door creaked open as she turned around quickly at the intruder. King stood inside her room, his back leaned against the door with an evil smirk on his face. His fingers rose to lock the door as Choco blinked confusedly.

"King? What are you doing?" she asked.

"Why, having a little fun, what else?" he replied, stepping towards Choco.

Choco stepped back, her bare foot reached the wall as she dropped her comb in the process.

"K-King, tell me your kidding, right?" asked Choco.

Another step. Her back pushed against the wall behind her, wishing for it to collapse. He had her cornered, and she was hopeless to do anything. If only she could reach her belt…

"Don't even think about it."

King grabbed her Pokebelt, throwing to the other end of the room. Ichigo was in the hall, playing with, no else but her and King were in the room. He advanced on her, and she gripped her towel even harder. His body pushed against hers, one hand pinning one of her arms up, as she needed the other to hold the towel, and the other pushing her face up. Her timid chocolate eyes stared into his golden ones, and she found something familiar about them. Where had she seen him before?

Suddenly, her eyes widened. She recognized those eyes; there were the same as that Team Wind member, the one that had almost raped her.

"No…"

She was too afraid. Too afraid to move, or even shout for help. Her legs wouldn't move, and neither would the rest of her body. His lips pushed against hers roughly, his free hand wrenched her other arm up as her towel fell onto the ground. She struggled to push him off, but her efforts were in vain. Pinning her hands above her head, King lashed out at her body, his hand trailing down her side as she desperately tried to move.

A knocking came to the door, along with Kari's voice,

"Choco, Ichigo wants to come in now."

King ignored her, continuing to play with his new toy in front of him. Choco tried to call out to her friend, but King's lips on hers mumbled the sound.

"Choco?" Kari tried the doorknob, only to find it locked.

"Choco, open the door, Ichigo wants to go inside!" shouted Kari.

Sean walked into the hallway sleepily with Thunder by his side,

"What's the ruckus?"

"Choco left Ichigo outside for a while and now Ichigo misses Choco, but Choco won't open the door," explained Kari.

"Choco," called Sean, "Hurry up and open the door!"

No answer, though he though he heard a mumble inside. He tried again, this time pounding the door,

"Choco? Are you in there?"

This time, he swore he heard a mumble, but the words were unclear. Sakura and Chris entered the hallway,

"What's wrong?" asked Sakura.

"Why are you pounding Choco's door, did you guys forget something?" asked Chris.

Kari patiently explained it over again as Sakura tried the doorknob, but it didn't work. The four thought for a while, before Sakura came up with an idea. She let out her Espeon as it purred, landing gently on the ground.

"Sunshine, do you think you could teleport in there and tell Choco to unlock her door?" asked Sakura.

Her Espeon nodded, disappearing quickly.

"Why did you ask to teleport us all in?" asked Sean.

"Since Sunshine's power is based on the sun, at night, Sunshine's power is reduced by half. It barely had the amount to teleport itself, it could never handle another person," explained Sakura.

Sunshine reappeared inside, and Choco filled with relief at seeing help. King had apparently noticed too, as he figured his belt for a pokeball, but before he could reach any, Sunshine had let out Choco's Pokemon too. Her Pokemon stretched, trying to wake up from their sleepy state. Sunshine hissed at them, and they immediately became alert.

With a quick tackle, King slammed into a wall as Choco quickly tossed on a dressing grown before rushing towards the door and unlocking it. King swore, jumping out her open window and disappeared into the darkness. Her friends tumbled into the room as suddenly, the room started spinning. Her head felt light as her eyes fluttered closed. Sean immediately caught her before she hit the ground and Sakura bent down to Sunshine while her Pokemon explained what had happened with them.

Chris felt Choco's forehead as Sean laid her down in her bed,

"She's burning up with a high fever, but with some rest and medicine she should be fine."

Kari sighed,

"That's not surprising, especially with what she's been through. We must be really lucky she didn't catch something worse."

Sean nodded, only half listening. One part of him hated himself, for letting Choco get hurt, and another half hated that damn King Romero. He knew he should've kept his distance in the first place. Chris sighed,

"I'll stay here and keep her temperature down, you guys need your sleep. Maybe with luck, she'll regain coconscious in the next couple days."

Sean shook his head,

"No, I'll stay. You guys can rest for a while. Just give me the medicine."

Chris was about to differ when he noticed Sean's mood. With a nod, he handed a dark green bottle to his friend,

"Give her one spoonful every four hours. She should awaken by tomorrow, or the day after that maybe."

Sean nodded, and the rest left the two of them alone. He couldn't make it in time; he couldn't help Choco. His hand brushed some stray strands of hair from her face as he whispered,

"I'm sorry."


	27. Home Sweet Home

"Umgh…" Choco groaned, opening her eyes.

Her whole body hurt, and her vision was blurry. What happened? Images from before flashed in her mind as her head felt heavy. A brown fluff slept at the edge of her pillow as she looked out the corner of her eye to see Ichigo. She was about to lift her hand when she realized that there was something on it.

With an effort, she made her body lift a bit, but crashed down onto the pillow in pain. She looked at her hand, and saw that Sean had fallen asleep in a chair, his hand gripping hers tightly. He stirred, his eyes opening as Choco tried to sit up a bit.

"Choco…?" he murmured.

Choco gave him a small smile before crashing down on her pillow again, waking up Ichigo. Seeing Choco up, Sean immediately gave a start as he leaned forwards just above her.

"You awake!" he said joyfully.

"Yeah, except my whole body hurts…" Choco groaned again as she tried to move her arms and sit up.

Sean flicked her forehead,

"You need to get to sleep stupid. Give it a rest."

Choco nodded, unable to say anything. Sean stood up to leave, but Choco caught his shirt,

"No, wait, please don't leave."

Sean turned back to Choco; her chocolate eyes seemed to be pleading him as he smiled and nodded at her. She breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down on the corner of the bed. He picked her head up, letting her rest against his chest as she clung to him tightly. Stroking her hair softly, she lay in his chest, and in seconds, she fell back asleep and Sean followed.

------------------------------------------

"Do you think I should go get him? He's been up there since last night. It's almost noon," said Sakura, glancing up the staircase.

Chris and Kari were the first ones up, and therefore, making breakfast. Kari shook her head,

"Let him be, he needs some time alone. Poor guy, especially with Choco like that. Hey, Sakura, would you mind delivering his breakfast up there?"

Sakura nodded, carefully balancing the tray Kari had given her. She knocked lightly at the door, and hearing no answer, she slowly pushed it open. Finding him asleep next to Choco, she smiled slightly at the two. She set the breakfast down on Choco's nightstand as she quietly left the two and sighed, _Young love._

Coming down the stairs, Chris set their breakfast on the table as Kari set the pans in the sink to be washed later. Sakura sat down, looking at the pile of food the two had prepared. Mornings didn't seem as fun without the usual chatter of Choco. The phone rang, and Sakura was glad for a distraction as she quickly got it before it could wake up anyone upstairs.

"Moshi Moshi, Ketchum residence," she said into the receiver, turning the phone into 'speaker mode' so the two others could hear.

Misty's voice came on the other line,

"Oh, Sakura, where's Choco?"

Quickly, Sakura thought of an excuse, seeing that neither her nor the other two downstairs wanted to tell the truth.

"Oh, she's still asleep, is there something you needed?"

"Typical Choco, but could you help me tell Choco we're really sorry, but something came up at Saffron so we'll be stuck here for a while. Tell her we'll meet her at the league," said Misty.

"Ok, is there anything else you needed?" asked Sakura.

"No, thanks a lot. Well, see you later."

"Bye."

Sakura hung up and Kari sighed as she sat down next to Chris. Sakura joined the two as they silently ate their breakfast.

"So, what should we do today?" asked Sakura, breaking the silence.

Chris looked up from staring at his eggs,

"We could look around town I guess. What else is there to do?"

Kari and Sakura shot a look at each other. Finally, Kari spoke up,

"Chris? We know Choco has a fever, but are you ok? That's the first time ever I've heard you suggest something even close to shopping."

Chris gave his friend a small smile,

"Yeah, I guess. But what can we do? Unless you know somebody around here that can show us around."

Sakura nodded,

"He's right, let's just walk around town. Maybe we can find something to do."

Kari looked thoughtfully at her plate of food, silently poking her bacon.

"Kari?" asked Chris.

Kari looked up,

"Yeah?"

"What were you thinking about?" asked Sakura.

Kari sighed,

"Well, King reminded me of that time when Katori had that Team Wind member target Choco, but I mean, it couldn't be him, he was with you Sakura."

Sakura thought for a moment,

"Actually, it could have been him. He told me he had seen something and when I asked to follow him, he told me to keep a lookout, in case it was a false alarm so I turned the other way and when I turned back, he was gone."

"So it was him," said Chris.

"Yeah, but since we can't change the past, we might as well check up on them now, then we can head out and look around for a bit," said Kari.

Breakfast was silent as they quickly finished up and Kari scribbled a note to Choco and Sean in case they woke up. Following her friends out the door, she glanced worriedly up the staircase and shut the door, remembering to grab the key as they left.

------------------------------

Sean woke up again later as he looked down to see Choco right next to him. He smiled, slowly lowering her to the bed. To his right, he spotted some food, and his stomach growled slightly as he picked up one of the two plates and a fork and hungrily at the eggs. After finishing, he walked down the stairs,

"Kari? Sakura? Chris?"

No answer came to his call as he found the kitchen deserted with a note left on the table,

_Sean, Choco,_

_We've decided to look around town for a while. Choco, your parents called, they said they couldn't meet us here, and they'd be at the league._

_Kari_

Sean tossed the note to the counter before washing his dishes. Cool water washed onto his hands as he splashed some to his face. After washing the dishes, he decided to explore the house and check out the rest of the rooms downstairs.

--------------------------------------

"What do you mean that you don't have it?" shouted a voice.

Sakura turned her head from the ground to see a girl Choco's age shouted at a small girl. The little girl whimpered,

"I-I'm sorry, my mom said that I should focus more on my studies and took it away."

"You lying, you have to have it," The older girl raised her hand to slap the little girl when a hand held her back.

"She said she didn't have it, leave her alone," said Kari, glaring at the older girl.

The girl wrenched her hand back, glared Kari, whose finger had reached a pokeball, and smirked,

"Well, then, I challenge you to a one-on-one Pokemon battle, if you win, I'll leave you and pesky friends alone."

Kari nodded, still glaring at the girl, but waiting for her to finish.

"And if I win, I get to continue what I was doing, _and _one of your Pokemon," said the girl.

From behind, Sakura gasped,

"Kari!"

Kari sent a small smile towards the two behind, who were checking the girl's condition, before turning around back to the girl,

"I accept."

Chris stood in the middle of the two as they spread out to a bigger plain,

"A one-on-one battle between Kari Crystal and…" Chris waited for the girl to fill in the blank.

"Kathy Oak."

------------------------------------------------

Pokebunny: Whew! Finally done! Sorry for the long wait, I made this chappie extra long to make it up! School's been killing me!

Chocolate: Hope you like.


	28. To the Indigo Plateau

"And Kathy Oak. There are no time limits, BEGIN!"

Kathy smirked, reaching for a Great Ball in her belt and let out the Pokemon,

"Go Vileplume!"

A beautiful Flower Pokemon appeared in a flash of red light, but something about the Pokemon wasn't right; instead of its usual red and blue color, it was orange and green. Sakura recognized it immediately,

"That's- that's a shiny Vileplume!"

"Of course, I only raise the best of the best. Weak Pokemon are useless," said Kathy.

"That's not true, let's show 'em Noctowl!"

Kari's brown Noctowl cawed as it took the skies, soaring above the field.

"Ha, like that bird's gonna beat us. Go, Vileplume, Sleeping Powder!" shouted Kathy.

"Noctowl, ignore it, use Wing Attack!"

As the green powder advanced towards Noctowl, it dove into it despite Kathy's raised eyebrow. Its wing glowed as it slashed through Vileplume, and the flower Pokemon skid back from recoil.

"Heh, using your Pokemon's ability. I see. Well then, Vileplume, Petal Dance!"

"Noctowl, use Mirror Move!"

Two huge rushes of petals hit each other as petals dropped harmlessly to the ground.

"Ugh, Vileplume, use Double Team!"

"Noctowl, find the real one! Use Foresight!"

"Too slow, Vileplume, use Solar Beam!"

Vileplume had surrounded Noctowl with illusionary copies of itself as they all started to gather sunlight. Almost immediately, they released their attack on the surprised Noctowl. Kari clenched her fist, she knew Noctowl could survive one Solar Beam, but from a shiny Vileplume, well, she wasn't so sure.

"Noctowl, can you get up?" she asked uncertainly.

The owl nodded, slowly rising into the air again. Kari let out a breath of relief just as Kathy called out her next attack,

"Vileplume, finish that bird off. Use Vine Whip!"

"Noctowl, let it grab you!" commanded Kari.

Noctowl nodded, and soon, two large vines grabbed onto each side of it as it winced in pain.

"Got cha, Noctowl, use Sky Attack!"

"What? How can it learn Sky Attack?" screeched Kathy.

But sure enough, Noctowl started to glow in flames and made a straight dive right at Vileplume, knocking out the Pokemon as Noctowl flew and landed on Kari's shoulder,

"Good job," she praised.

It gave another hoot as it returned to its pokeball. Kathy returned her Pokemon in a huff while storming off. The girl who had been watching the whole battle came up to Kari,

"Thank you, I don't know what I would've done if you weren't here."

Kari nodded,

"You're welcome, oh, and, what did Kathy want from you?"

The girl shifted,

"Well, a couple days ago I was out in the forest picking flowers when I found an Ultra Ball and Kathy found out. She's been pestering me since."

"Wow, an Ultra Ball? Those are really rare," said Sakura, coming up from behind.

The girl nodded as she looked at her watch,

"Oh, I gotta go now," she said, running off in the other direction.

"Wait, what's you name?" called Kari.

"Ringo!"

They waved goodbye as they watched her run off,

"Well, that was enough for one day, how 'bout we head on back?" asked Chris.

Sakura nodded,

"Yeah, we might need to check on the two."

The trio turned back the way they came as they headed back arriving at the Ketchum household just in time to bump into Sean, who was on his way out.

"Hey, I was going to look for you three. What took you so long?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing much. How's Choco?" replied Chris.

Sean shifted uncomfortably as he answered,

"Well, her fever's gone down."

Chris nodded,

"That's good news, she'll be up and about by tomorrow."

Sean's eyes lit up,

"Really?"

Chris smiled,

"Yeah."

"Anyways, let's go grab dinner and call it a day," said Sakura.

Sean nodded and the four headed down the street to some fast food joint they found along the way. After dinner, they walked back home as Sean retired back to his room along with Sakura.

Kari plopped down the sofa comfortably as Chris sat down next to her. The two rested in contented silence when Chris spoke up first,

"That was a nice battle back there."

Kari nodded,

"Thanks."

Chris looked at his watch,

"Shouldn't you get some sleep? Tomorrow's another day."

Kari shook her head,

"I'm not tired."

Chris shrugged,

"Mmkay, I'll stay too."

Kari closed her eyes and smiled slightly,

"This has been quite a journey hasn't it? It was almost like yesterday when Professor Elm gave me my Chikorita and you a Cyndaquil. It's sad I didn't bring Chiko with me to the Kanto region."

Chris nodded,

"Yeah, Kanto's almost just as crazy as Johto, and to think were here on a break after we stopped Team Rocket."

"Ah, the good old times. We were always best friends weren't we?" asked Kari, leaning her head onto Chris' shoulder.

Chris felt weight on his shoulder, he turned his head, and Kari had fallen asleep,

"If only we were more…"

--------------------------------------------

"Good morning everyone!" shouted Choco as the four headed towards the kitchen.

Sean laughed as he ruffled her hair,

"Nice to see you up again."

"Yup! I even made breakfast!" said Choco, leading them to the dining room.

Kari raised an amused eyebrow,

"Is it edible?"

Choco turned around and pouted as they burst out laughing.

"So, what do you guys wanna do today?" she asked after breakfast.

Sakura looked at the calendar,

"Well, the league starts in three days, we better get going if we're going to make it in time. Traveling there takes one day."

"But what about mom and dad?" asked Choco.

"Oh, they called. They said that they were a little stuck at Saffron, but their watch you at the league," replied Chris.

Choco nodded,

"Ok!"

She rushed upstairs to grab her bag as the rest waited downstairs for her return. Kari smiled,

"Choco sure is energetic today."

"Yeah, but it's a lot better that way isn't it?" said Sean.

Choco came down quickly,

"Alright! Let's go!"

And the five of them walked out the door and into the familiar path towards the Indigo Plateau.

----------------------------------------------------

Pokebunny: Another chappie finished! Thanks everyone that read down to here.

Chocolate: Well that took you a long time.

Pokebunny: Ah, so sorry! Hope you like this!

Chocolate: (skims the story) Awww! How cute, Chris likes Kari!


	29. The Final Battle, Part I

Choco grinned largely as she stood in front of the entrance to Victory Cave. This was the last obstacle towards her future. She took a deep breath and stepped in. Kari clung Chris' sleeve,

"Its so dark in here, I can barely see my hand in front of my face."

"Maybe you're just going blind?" Chris teased.

Kari whacked him sharply on the head as Sakura giggled. A low growl stopped their conversation. Choco shivered,

"What was that?"

Sean squinted into the darkness,

"I don't know, I can't see anything."

Kari's grip tightened,

"I told you."

A dark figure flew towards them, and instinctively, Sean stood in front of Choco. As the figure drew closer, it started to shape of a Flygon. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief,

"Well, that was just a wild Pokemon…"

"No, look, there's a rider…" said Chris.

Sure enough, there was a faint outline of a person on the Pokemon's back.

"Now, Flygon, Sandstorm!"

Choco shielded her eyes as a tornado of sand flew towards them. It seemed to whip harder and harder as finally, everything seemed dark as she faded into unconsciousness. The rider smirked as he watched the five kids fall onto the hard stone floor. Now, to complete his mission, he walked over to the group, knelt down, and placed something blue in the pocket of one of them. Then, he took out a radio,

"Boss, we've finished the preparations."

"Good, retreat. We shall give our little friends a surprise when they visit us."

"Roger."

The man turned off his radio and pocketed it before hopping back onto his Flygon and disappearing into the darkness.

--------------------------------------------

"Umhnn?" Choco warily opened her eyes to face darkness.

For a moment, she thought she was still in a dream. The surrounds were dark purplish, with endless boundaries. She turned her head, seeing Sean, and rushed over. He seemed to just have awoken too as he unsteadily sat up.

"Sean, your ok!" she said happily, flinging her arms around him.

He nodded his head,

"But I have a huge headache. What happened?"

Choco shook her head,

"I don't know. I just woke up too."

"Why, hello there, and welcome again, Choco Ketchum and Sean Birch," boomed a loud voice.

------------------------------

"Kari, Kari wake up!" shook Sakura lightly as Chris picked her up gently.

Her eyes fluttered open as she glanced up at the two.

"Huh? Where are I?" she asked.

Sakura looked around and frowned,

"That's a good question. Where are we?"

Chris took out his PokeNav, but the connection seemed to have failed, as the screen remained black.

"Now, do you really think we were dumb enough to let you keep your communication with outside?" said a familiar voice.

Kari sat up immediately and glared in the direction it came from.

"King Romero, you better get out of here before I kill you," she hissed.

King laughed,

"Oh? I just came by to deliver a present to you guys. Thought I might come in useful."

"We don't want it-" started Sakura.

"No, we do. What is it?" interrupted Chris.

Kari glared sharply at him,

"What?"

Chris lowered his voice so that only the two girls could hear him,

"It might show us where Choco and Sean are."

Kari looked at Sakura, who shrugged.

"Fine, just give it to us Romero."

King chuckled,

"Wise choice."

He tossed a ball towards Sakura, who caught it with a raised eyebrow,

"Aren't we a bit old to play catch?"

"Oh no, this ball isn't for a game. It shows where your two friends are. I suggest you take a look," said King.

Chris scanned the black ball as the colors inside started to swirl and change to a dark purplish. Then, there appeared two, no three figures.

"That's Choco, Sean, and-!" cried Kari alarmed.

---------------------------------

"Katori."

One word spit through Sean's mouth as he glared at her. The Team Wind leader, though, didn't seem to be fazed.

"Why, hello! I sure you missed me," she said.

"And if we didn't?" asked Sean.

"It isn't time to argue right now, I do believe that if the ancient prophecy is correct, then the Final Battle should start…now."

As if something had activated, Sean fell to his knees, clutching his chest painfully.

"Sean!"

Choco caught him lightly he bent over and coughed out blood onto the clean white tile of the room. She watched as her friend shone blue for a second, and his ocean blue eyes turned hard as he stood up. Choco, glad to see her friend up, grabbed his arm to keep him from falling. To her surprise, he slapped her hand away.

"Release the Pokemon now!" shouted Katori.

Two dark figures flew towards them. Choco immediately recognized one as the Lugia she had seen Team Wind capture, but the other one caught her eyes. It was a beautiful bird Pokemon. It had a long beak and feathers of red, orange, and yellow. A rainbow trailed after it as it flew a circle above the ground before landing next to her.

Across the room from her, the Lugia had landed next to Sean. Lugia had changed, its white feathers tinted a dark purple as its eyes turned to red slits. It was obvious that Team Wind had done something to it. Katori grinned as she watched Sean jump onto Lugia's back and Lugia rise into the sky.

"Sean! What are you doing?" shouted Choco.

The Pokemon that had landed next to her spoke, making Choco jump,

"Choco Ketchum. Or shall I say the Fire Orb bearer."

"Y-You can talk?" she asked stupidly.

"Yes, I am projecting words into your mind. I am Ho-oh."

"W-what? What's going on?" asked Choco.

"We are in the middle of a battle of the legends. It is said that two chosen ones will face each other in the Final Battle. I am afraid your friend has been chosen," replied the bird Pokemon without moving its mouth.

"How can I end it? What do I have to do?" asked Choco.

The bird turned to her, looking her solemnly in the eye,

"We have to kill the Water Orb Bearer."

----------------------------------------------------------

Pokebunny: Dun dun dun… What'll Choco do?

Chocolate: No! Don't kill Sean! Nooooo!


	30. The Final Battle, Part II

"W-what? You've got to be kidding, right?" asked Choco.

The bird seemed to sigh as it dropped its gaze,

"No, I am not. The final battle won't end until one of the bearers die."

"B-but, I can't just kill Sean…"

She was interrupted sharply when Ho-oh grabbed her shirt, flung her onto its back, and rose into the air just as a white blast hit their original position. Ho-oh gathered a small fireball in its beak as it aimed it towards Sean and Lugia, but Choco held it back. It cawed piercingly as it quickly dodged another beam.

"What are you doing? Do you _want_ to be killed?" it screeched as it made a sharp turn.

"Please, let me first try to persuade him. Maybe he'll just snap out of it?" argued Choco.

The majestic phoenix nearly flipped over to dodge another Hyper Beam as it growled,

"You better make it quick."

Choco smiled,

"Thank you."

Ho-oh flew closer, carefully weaving in and out of the attacks let out a weak jolt of electricity, paralyzing the two.

"Hurry!" the bird shouted.

"Sean! Sean! Its me Choco!" pleaded Choco.

She flew up closer to him until there was barely any distance between the two. Sean glared at her, and when he spoke, his voice seemed lower, deeper,

"What are you doing? I don't know you."

"No! Sean, please, remember!" shouted Choco her eyes holding tears threatening to fall.

_No, I will NOT cry. Not this time._

Despite her mental scolding, a single tear slipped out her eyes, landing on Lugia's head. The water bird screeched in pain, retreating a couple meters. Sean's eyes almost regained focus. Almost.

"No. You are the Fire Orb Bearer, the enemy," he said.

"No I am not. I'm Choco Ketchum! Sean, think!" shouted Choco.

He paid no heed to her words, as Lugia seemed to snap out of paralysis and let out a bright white beam towards Ho-oh. The phoenix was ready. It made a steep dive down, then shot straight up and hit Lugia in the stomach with a Body Slam. The legendary seemed surprised as it teetered as it regained its balance quickly before sending a gust of wind at Ho-oh. It was a critical hit as Ho-oh steadied its flight from nearly shaking Choco off.

"What's wrong with him, why won't he answer me?" asked Choco, frustrated.

Ho-oh sighed,

"He's been taken over by the Water Orb. If the bearer has enough hatred in his or her heart, then the orb will take over their body, making them one with the legendary. Your heart was pure, so the orb resides in you, but your will is what keeps it under control."

----------------------------------

"So your plan all along was to get Sean's heart full of hatred," growled Chris.

"Quite an easy job too. He has a weakness, and that's where I caught him," answered King.

"His weakness is also against you, too," pointed out Sakura.

King shrugged, as if it were just a small detail,

"Half an hour after the infusion, the orb will take over his body immediately, so there really isn't much to worry about."

"That's just in ten minutes!" said Kari, glancing at her watch.

King grinned evilly,

"Exactly."

-------------------------------------

"Hold on!"

Ho-oh made a full flip-over as it dodged Lugia's Steel Wing attack and countered with a Sacred Fire. It hit its mark. Hard.

"Sean!"

Choco watched in horror as he fell from the legendary's back. Luckily, they were just a few feet from the ground, but he fell hard on the tile floor. Barely able to remain conscious, he glanced around, his eyes still changing colors constantly from icy blue to warm teal,

"W-what happened?"

Lugia seemed to sense that its 'master' had abandoned it as it fired an Aeroblast at Sean the same time that Ho-oh let out a Sacred Fire at Sean. The powerful attacks flew towards Sean at amazing speed, and Choco watched in slow motion as they grew closer.

--------Flashback--------

"_Sean, are you ok?" asked Choco, kneeling down by his side as she touched his wound lightly._

_He winced in pain as she quickly removed her hand with an apology._

"_It's ok,"_

_Her auburn eyes glazed up as she raised a hand to wipe the tears threatening to fall._

"_B-but, every time you try to protect me, you get hurt. It's not fair," she said._

_His hand reached up to her face, wiping the tears that she had missed._

"_I'm fine, see?" he said, gesturing to himself._

"_No, sniff, you aren't," replied Choco stubbornly as she dropped her hands back down to her sides._

----------End Flashback-----------

_Every time you try to protect me you get hurt. It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair._

Those words ran repeatedly in her mind as she shook her head. No, this time she was going to save Sean, even if it meant giving up her life. She slid of Ho-oh's back quickly, standing protectively in front as Sean just as the combined power of both attack hit her straight in the stomach. She was slammed into the wall, her vision blurry as she saw Sean race to her side before fading into unconsciousness.

"Choco!" he shouted, holding Choco up to his chest.'

Her body hung lifelessly from his arms as his eyes glazed up.

"No…Choco, please don't scare me. C'mon, wake up…" he said, shaking her slightly.

Still, there was no movement. A single tear slipped from his eyes as he tipped her face up slightly, running his free hand against her cheek to brush it away. Her body felt cold as he placed his ear next to her heart. There was no sound.

"Choco…" he whimpered helplessly as tears fell like raindrops on her cheek.

He tipped her face up lightly as he bent his head down, brushing his lips against her softly.

---------------------------------

Pokebunny: (Gasp) Choco died! I got so many reviews against Sean dieing so I changed it around a bit. Just a bit.

Chocolate: Please leave a review!


	31. The Final Battle, Part III

"Choco!" shouted Sakura, watching through the globe as Choco collapsed onto the ground.

From her point, she couldn't see much except for Choco taking the two attacks at once. Kari covered her mouth as she gasped. Chris just stared. King shrugged as if it were nothing as the globe became dark again.

"Well, serves her right for taking an attack like that stupidly," said King.

He boarded the plane, and left the area in an instant. Kari collapsed onto her knees.

"Chris, she'll be alright, right?" asked Sakura.

The older teen shook his head,

"I don't know, I really don't. No one's ever been struck by the legendary's attacks."

-------------------------

Sean's lips met Choco's gently as he held her limp body in his arms.

"You'll be alright, we just need to get back to the other three. You'll be alright, Choco," he said quietly.

Lugia cawed loudly as the power of the water orb subsided. It's feathers returned to a light silver color as its eyes glowed blue instead of red. It flapped its large wings as if to stretch, the turning to the two kids.

"I'm sorry," it projected.

Sean nodded,

"Is she ok?" he asked.

Ho-oh turned away, leaving Lugia to answer the question. It kept silent for a while before replying,

"I don't know."

--------------------------------

_So dark…Where am I?_

Choco looked around at her surroundings, only to be met with complete darkness.

_Am I dead?_

A voice around her chuckled, sending shivers down her spine.

"W-who's there?"

Another chuckle,

"Why, do you really not know me? I am the hatred in you heart; the loneliness that you faced when you were young, when your parents left on missions; the fear that you felt when just a single creak would make; the jealousy that you felt when your rival would get something you didn't."

"No…"

The darkness took shape and Choco recognized it as her living room.

"_Happy birthday Choco!" praised Misty._

"_Yes, and now you're nine, just one more year before you can become a trainer," said Ash._

"_Yup, I can't wait!" said nine-year-old Choco._

"No, stop it!" shouted Choco, refusing to see the images in front of her.

_A familiar cell-phone tune rung in her ears as Misty excused herself to pick it up. She frowned, _

"_Now, but I need to stay home. Tomorrow, what? Right now? Lance, I really need to stay, its Choco's birthday!"_

_From the table, Choco frowned. She knew a birthday without missions from the Elite Four was close to impossible, but she had just hoped, a small spark in her heart, this year would be different. Misty hung up, looking at Ash. The message was as clear as if she had said it out loud: they were need again._

"_Mommy, daddy, I'll be fine. I've stayed at home for years already, I can do it again," assured Choco._

"_But, maybe we should call Brock?" asked Ash._

_Choco shook her head,_

"_You don't need to bother Uncle Brock. I'm nine, I'm really fine!"_

_Her parents sighed,_

"_If you say so. Choco, we're really sorry, we told them that we'd stay tonight." _

_Choco gave a small smile,_

"_Don't worry, it's your job right?"_

_Her parents looked at each other,_

"_Well, Choco, we've decided that you should have this. Just in case."_

_Ash dug in pockets; his black fingerless gloves closed around something, and dropped a small pokeball in Choco's hand._

"_Its your first Pokemon. It's a bit early, but we hope it'll make up for the time that we've missed."_

"_Thank you! I'll take good care of it!" said Choco, waving at her parents as they grabbed their backpacks before closing the door._

_------------_

"_Growlithe, Ember!"_

"_Bagel, dodge!"_

_The little blue dragon Pokemon jumped, narrowly avoiding a small string of fire taking the place of where it originally stood. _

"_Now, Growlithe, tackle it!"_

_The Fire Pokemon let out a bounce from its hind feet, hitting Bagel hardly in the stomach, making the Bagon faint._

"_See, Ketchum. My dad actually has time to train with me, unlike yours."_

"_Shut it Oak, my parents are Pokemon Masters! They're famous, unlike yours."_

_Kathy Oak flipped her hair,_

"_Well, at least we can have family time."_

_Choco glared as Kathy stunted off, proud of herself._

_------------_

"No, my parents were busy, its natural they go on missions."

"Are you sure? They were never home, not even when you finally finished your journey and came home with all seven Kanto Badges. Did they stay and celebrate? No, they left for some more work."

"They have work."

"Their work was more important than you."

"No…"

Choco felt slightly dizzy as her head started to spin. She fell lightly to her knees as she clutched her ears, trying to block out the sound. Then, distantly, she heard her name. Was…was that Sean's voice?

That's right. She wasn't alone. She had her friends, her Pokemon, and her parents. She wasn't alone. She smiled, and the darkness around her started to fade.

----------------------------

"Choco! Choco…please be ok…" he used one arm to keep her body upright as his other slowly caressed her features.

Her body had become cold, almost icy. He refused to cry, but a single tear slipped, landing on her heart. A white glowing illuminated the area as Sean stared in awe. Ho-oh seemed to give a small smile,

"You did it. You saved her."

"Huh? Me? What did I do?" asked Sean.

"Your love for her removed the darkness the fire orb has trapped in her soul," explained Lugia.

Something came out of Sean's heart, the Water Orb. It flew into the air, shining above the four before the Fire Orb removed itself from Choco's body. The two orbs met in the air, twirling towards each other, before colliding. They morphed into one, a purplish color, before shattering into light. The arena started to fade as Sean closed his eyes at the bright light. The last thing he saw was the two legendaries smiling, and one word in his mind, _Goodbye._

-----------------------

To Kari's surprise, the orb she had been holding glowed brightly as the three spectators shielded themselves from the light. When the light had faded, Sean was with them, holding Choco.

"Y-you're here? What happened?" asked Sakura.

"Choco!" Kari kneeled down next to her friend, lightly holding her hand.

Slowly Choco's eyes fluttered open, meeting four pairs of eyes staring down at her.

"Huh?" she slowly uttered.

Kari's tears stopped at the corners of her eyes as she quickly wiped them before trying to frown at Choco,

"What do ya mean 'huh', you scared us half to death!" she shouted.

Choco blinked,

"I did?"

Sakura pulled Choco up as Kari flung herself around the girl.

"Kari, are you crying?" asked Choco.

"No, you stupid, I'm not crying," but despite her sentence, a flood of tears poured onto the ground behind Choco.

------------------------------

Chocolate: So, how'd you like it? The ending's was _my _idea, ya know.

Pokebunny: (whacks Chocolate on the head) No it wasn't! I was mine! Anyways, drop-off a review please!


	32. It was just a question

Sakura blinked as her eyes adjusted to the bright light outside of the cave as she fingered her newly caught Pokemon. An Onix, hmm, a wonderful new member to her team. Choco ran towards the large Pokemon League glass doors as Kari followed her excited friend. The two waited impatiently for the rest of the group to catch up with them.

"C'mon! Hurry up!" said Choco, tapping her foot anxiously.

Chris rolled his eyes,

"The registration just started, there's no rush."

"Still, I wanna be the first!" persisted Choco.

The doors slid open automatically as the five stepped into the air-conditioned room. Nurse Joy greeted them brightly from the counter as another girl stood by the counter. Choco rushed towards them,

"Trina! You got here before us!"

Trina turned towards them, first startled, and then she smiled,

"Choco, you scared me!"

"Eh, sorry."

The rest of the group greeted her as Nurse Joy cleared her throat, drawing their attention. She smiled,

"May I have the names of the League participants?"

"Choco Ketchum," said Choco.

"Alright Miss Ketchum, may I see your seven badges?"

Choco opened her badge case and the seven Kanto badges glistened in the light. Nurse Joy examined them for a moment before nodding her head and typing something into her computer. She reached towards a machine as it printed out a card before handing it to Choco,

"Here, your ID card here at the league. I suggest you keep it safe; it really is a hassle to get another one. Are there any more contestants?"

Trina stepped up,

"Trina Triton."

Nurse Joy turned towards her,

"May I see your badges?"

Trina fished out seven badges in her coat pocket and handed them to Nurse Joy. Nurse Joy nodded in approval before entering something into her computer and handing Trina a card of her own.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" asked Nurse Joy.

"Can we get three rooms to stay?" asked Sean.

Nurse Joy nodded, reaching into the shelves and handing three keys to Sean,

"These are on the fourteenth floor. The elevators are on the right side of that hall and just press the highest floor fifth room to your left. Those rooms have quite the view of the ocean too; I suggest you take some rest and I'll heal your Pokemon. Just leave them here and I'll send a Chansey to deliver them when their ready. Also, the league is holding a ball tonight; all participants and friends are welcome."

"Thank you Nurse Joy!"

Sean handed a key to Kari and one to Trina before keeping one himself. Choco spoke up,

"Hey, Trina, do you mind if I share a room with you? Kari snores really loudly."

Kari turned a shade redder as whacked Choco on the head,

"I do not!"

Trina laughed,

"Of course. The rooms are right next to each other right? There's not that much of a difference."

Sakura sighed,

"I'm stuck with you alone, Kari. This is going to be one _long_ night."

Before Kari could whack Sakura on the head, Chris caught her arm,

"Quite violent today?"

Kari blushed, grabbing her arm back,

"Humph."

Sean reached for the elevator button and pushed the up arrow as he listened amused to the arguments. An elevator arrived, and apparently they had not realized until Sean called out,

"There's an elevator, if anyone wants to ride it."

They turned their attention to him as Choco blushed,

"Oh yeah, I knew that."

Sean rolled his eyes as he stepped in, soon to be followed by five others. Choco was about to push the button to close the doors when someone called out,

"Wait, hold the doors!"

Choco immediately changed buttons, catching the door just as it was about to fully close. The person stepped through, panting,

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome."

He stuck out his hand,

"I'm Jerohkai, Jerohkai Abbot."

Choco shook his hand,

"Choco Ketchum and these are my friends."

Introductions passed through the group quickly as when Sakura caught his eye, he smiled as she blushed and looked at the ground. Jerohkai pushed the tenth floor before looking at his watch,

"Whew, I made it on time. My cousin works around here somewhere, I think on the tenth floor. There's a ballroom and she's one of the designers. I was gonna meet her in about two minutes and she'd kill me if I was late again."

The elevator dinged, signaling that it was at the tenth floor. Jerohkai waved goodbye as the doors closed. Kari smirked, catching Sakura's disappointed look,

"Did he ask you to the ball?"

Sakura's blush deepened,

"Kari, be quiet!"

The rest of the group laughed until the elevator arrived at their floor. Sean opened the door to their room,

"Chris, c'mon."

Chris turned to Sean,

"Wait a sec, you can unpack first, I need to do something."

Sean shrugged as he closed the door. Chris took a deep breath, calming himself before grabbing Kari's sleeve before she entered her room. She turned, surprised,

"Chris?"

"Ah, could I ask you something? In private."

Sakura caught the hint as she closed her door. Seeing no one else in the hall, Chris turned towards Kari,

"Do-Did you want to come to the ball with me?" he asked.

Kari's face turned pink, not quite believing what she was hearing. Did he really just ask her to the ball? She bit her lip, asking one question to answer her doubt,

"Um-uh, you mean as friends right?"

Chris caught her uncertainty, watching her avert her eyes to the blue carpet on the ground. He tipped her head up with two fingers, his eyes staring into hers,

"What do you think?"

"H-huh? I-I don't know…" she stuttered in reply, avoiding his gaze.

An awkward silence filled the halls to be broken by an elevator as a Chansey stepped out, holding a tray of pokeballs. It nodded its greeting at them before proceeding down the halls to deliver pokeballs. Chris turned away from Kari,

"Its ok if you don't. I was just asking."

Kari's eyes widened,

"N-no, that's not what I meant! O-of course I'll go with you!"

Chris turned back, a playful smirk on his face as he tipped her face up,

"It's a date."

Kari stood in shock as she watched him open the door to his room and close it behind him. She rushed into her room, burying her head in her pillow to cover the bright red blush on her face.

"Kari, are you ok?" asked Sakura, raising an eyebrow at her friend's action.

Kari smiled into the pillow,

"Yeah."

Mentally, she added,

_I much more than ok! I've never been better!_

-------------------------------

Chocolate: How sweet!

Pokebunny: (nods enthusiastically) Of course!


	33. The Christmas Ball: Choco and Sean

"And if Bagel can pull that off, then maybe…" Choco murmured.

Sean watched from a nearby tree,

"You might want to try something, your Pokemon look kinda bored."

Choco blinked, snapping out of her daydream, and looked at the Pokemon in front of her.

"Your right, my bad," she said sheepishly.

"Choco!"

Choco turned towards the sound of her name, having to be met by Sakura shaking her roughly by the shoulders and squealing. Choco winced as she said,

"S-S-Sakura, w-what d-d-do y-you w-w-want?"

Sakura finally let go as she let out another squeal,

"Jerohkai asked me to the ball!"

"Your point is…?" asked Sean.

Sakura smiled wickedly at him before turning to Choco,

"Hey, you are going to be going to the ball tonight, right?"

Choco shrugged,

"Not really, I mean, it's not like anyone asked me, so what's the point."

Sakura's grin widened,

"Sean, you aren't going to the ball with anyone, right?"

Sean shook his head, a puzzled expression plastered on his face. Sakura 's grin was so wide that Choco thought that she would burst,

"So, how 'bout you two go to the ball together?"

Sean blinked before realizing what Sakura's words meant. Choco looked at him, her face a tinge red,

"Sakura," she whined lightly.

Sakura ignored her, turning to Sean,

"So?"

Sean looked away,

"Um, if you w-want."

Choco looked at the ground,

"Uh…sure…"

Sakura waved her arms excitedly,

"Now, Choco, we need to get you a dress."

Choco looked horrified at the suggestion, backing up,

"No way am I wearing a dress!" she said.

"Of course you are, how else are you going to the ball?"

Sakura dragged Choco away as Choco shouted back, arms flailing as she called,

"Sean! Help me!"

He just grinned at watched her disappear around a corner. He had to thank Sakura for that sometime.

-----------------------------

"I knew he'd ask you!" said Kari, as Choco pouted as she sat down on the chair to wait for them to pick a dress.

"Ah, come on, today's Christmas Eve, lighten up a bit," said Sakura.

"But I don't want to wear _that_!" Choco emphasized, pointing to a dress wrapped neatly in a box.

They had gone through practically the whole town to search for the dress and now she had to wear it in front of everyone. Sakura and Kari had finished choosing, and the sun was about to set below the horizon.

"Come on, we have to hurry!"

Kari grabbed the boxes as the three ran back towards the PokeCenter. Kari and Sakura disappeared into their room to change, as Choco slipped into hers. Trina seemed to also have a date, as she was dressed in a beautiful red dress. Noticing Choco come in, Trina turned,

"Going to the ball, Choco?" she said, eyeing the box that her younger friend held.

"Yeah. Sakura made me."

Choco unpacked, changing into the dress that Kari had picked. After she had changed, Trina frowned,

"Choco, you can't keep your hair up in a ponytail."

Choco pouted,

"Why not?"

Trina walked behind Choco, undoing the rubber band that held it up before changing it a bit and took a step back to admire her work,

"There, all done."

Choco looked into the mirror, seeing her hair done in a slightly messy bun, with two small strands of hair on each side. Trina glanced at the clock,

"We gotta go, the ball starts in five minutes and we still have walk down the grand staircase to meet our dates."

Choco blushed slightly,

"I don't really have a date, I'm just going with Sean."

Trina growled slightly in frustration,

"He's your date."

"He's not my-"

But any argument was useless as they walked towards the staircase at the end of the hall. Choco bit her lip in nervousness, lining up behind the other girls to walk down. When it was her turn, she looked back at Trina, who gave her a thumbs up. Taking a deep breath, she slowly descended the staircase.

---------------------------

Sean frowned in his tuxedo, scratching his neck as he complained,

"It's itchy Chris."

Chris smiled,

"Well, they weren't exactly made for comfort."

Sean groaned,

"I'll have to stay in this for three hours."

Chris motioned for him to be quiet as the first couple girls walked down the staircase, but he couldn't spot Choco. He waited for the next ten when he finally saw her. His eyes widened, Choco looked beautiful in a dress. From around him, he could see everyone's eyes on her, some were whispering; others just like him, staring with their eyes widened.

Choco was in an elegant blue dress, flowing freely down her sides as her chocolate eyes scanned the crowd before landing on him. A soft blush lit her face as she gave him an awkward smile. He returned it as she walked towards him, standing next to him with her eyes glued to the floor.

"Y-you look pr-beautiful," he stuttered.

Choco bit her lip,

"T-thanks, y-you too…"

Nurse Joy opened the huge doors towards the ballroom as they walked in together. Sean looked over at Choco, who was still staring at the floor. He smiled slightly as the music started,

"May I have this dance, my lady?"

Choco looked up at his outstretched hand,

"O-okay."

He led her towards the dance floor and held her as she tensed up at his touch at first, but relaxed and a darker blush lit her face.

_Sean is just a friend. Sean is just a friend._ She thought, trying to convince herself.

Soft music flowed in the background, and she slowly began to fall into step with him. She smiled, letting the wonderful feeling sink in,

But at least I love him. She smiled.

She closed her eyes, and Sean smiled, leading her gracefully across the floor.

_**I know we've been,**_

_**Friends forever**_

_**But now I think I'm feeling something totally new,**_

_**And after all this time,**_

_**I've opened up my eyes,**_

_**Now I see, **_

**You were always with me.**

-------------------Flashback----------------------

"Hey, my name's Sean, Sean Birch," said Sean.

"_Choco Ketchum, nice to meet cha," replied Choco, happily shaking his hand._

"_Do you wanna travel together?"_

_Choco smiled,_

"_Sure!"_

_--------------_End Flashback----------------------

Choco smiled as she remembered when they met. He was always there, through thick and thin. They really were almost always together.

**Could it be, you and I,**

**Never imagined.**

**Could it be, suddenly, **

**I'm falling for you.**

**Could it be, **

**You were right here beside me,**

**And I never knew…**

**Could it be, that it's true,**

**That it's you…**

----------------------Flashback-----------------------

"Are you looking for Team Wind?" asked Kari.

Sean nodded,

"They took my friend, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get her back."

------------------End Flashback----------------------

Sean felt Choco relax, smiling as he gazed down at her. Her eyes met his as she smiled, and so did he.

**It's kinda funny, **

**You were, always near,**

**But who would ever thought that we would end up here,**

**And after all this time,**

**I've opened up my eyes,**

**Now I see,**

**You were always with me.**

"It's kinda weird how this song matches them, doesn't it?" smiled Kari.

Chris nodded,

"It fits them perfectly."

**Could it be, you and I,**

**Never imagined.**

**Could it be, suddenly, **

**I'm falling for you.**

**Could it be, **

**You were right here beside me,**

**And I never knew…**

**Could it be, that it's true,**

**That it's you…**

"Choco," he gently murmured her name.

She smiled up at him, still following his rhythm to the dance. He gave a small smile, and she grinned. Even though they didn't know it, they were thinking the same thing. I wish this night would last forever.

**I can see it in your eyes,**

**And it's real, and its true,**

**It's just me and you,**

**Could it be,**

**That it's true,**

**That it's you…**

Choco stuck her tongue out playfully at him, and he chuckled quietly. She rested her head gently on his shoulder as the music flowed on.

**Could it be, you and I,**

**Never imagined.**

**Could it be, suddenly, **

**I'm falling for you.**

**Could it be, **

**You were right here beside me,**

**And I never knew…**

**Could it be, that it's true,**

**That it's you…**

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Pokebunny: Whew! Finally loaded that chappie. Now for all of you Choco and Sean fans out there, you can stop rushing me to this.

Chocolate: Yeah, we had a lot of schoolwork and billions of projects.

Pokebunny: Well, at least Choco and Sean are together!


	34. And The Battles Begin

"Thank you for joining us tonight! We wish you all a Merry Christmas and good luck to all league participants! The battles will start tomorrow, please stop by the main part of the PokeCenter to see whom you'll be battling!" said Nurse Joy, standing on the stage with a microphone.

The crowd cheered as everyone started walking separate ways; some back to their rooms, others to train, and some checking the battle partners. Choco looked down at her dress,

"How 'bout we change, then we can go check the battle pairings."

The group agreed as they returned to their rooms, agreeing to meet back downstairs in a few minutes. Jerohkai was first, and when Choco came downstairs, he looked over towards her,

"I guess we're battling each other in the first round."

"What? Really?" Choco rushed forwards to look at the screen.

Surely, the first pair was them. Choco sighed, disappointed to battle a friend in the first round. Jerohkai smiled slightly, holding his hand out,

"Well, I didn't want to battle you so early either, but let's give it our all and not hold back. Deal?"

Choco smiled and shook it,

"Deal."

Trina came down next, greeting the two of them politely before heading towards the screen.

"So, Trina, who are you battling?"

Trina frowned slightly at the name,

"I don't think I recognize this person, Serenity Avalon."

Choco walked up beside her to look at the listings,

"True, but the name sounds familiar."

"That's because she's the cousin of Sabrina, former leader of Saffron Gym before it was closed down," said Sean from behind her.

Choco turned to see the rest of the group gathered at the bottom of the staircase. They sat down at the couch, talking for a few minutes before Trina yawned,

"I'm getting some sleep, my battle's at eight o'clock tomorrow and I gotta be awake for it."

Choco looked at the clock in the hallway,

"Good idea, I'm going too."

Sakura grinned,

"We'll be cheering for you guys in the stands!"

"Thanks!"

The two of them walked up the stairs to their room as they fell asleep almost immediately. The next day came quickly as Choco was awakened by Trina shaking her,

"We've gotta hurry! Our matches are in half an hour!"

Choco immediately bounced out of bed, dressing as quickly as she could before getting ready and meeting Trina in the dining hall. The two gobbled down their breakfast as they rushed to get to the stadium. Suddenly, along the dirt pathway, a dark shadow blocked the sun for a moment as Trina looked up to see a girl riding an Alteria. Suddenly, the person made a steep dive, unfortunately falling off the Pokemon.

"Hey watch out below!" the rider shouted before her Alteria swooped down and caught her right before she hit the ground.

"Are you ok?" asked Choco as she ran up to the girl.

"I'm fine! Ahaha, happens all the time! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to the stadium!" replied the girl.

Before either of the two could utter a sound, the girl had hopped back on her Alteria and disappeared into the air.

"Um, ok…" started Trina.

"We should head towards the stadium too."

The two started off again, running towards the huge open stadium not to far away. Upon arriving, Sakura looked blankly at the two,

"You're late."

"Haha, sorry, we almost ran into someone on the way here…" apologized Choco sheepishly.

Trina nodded, backing up her friend's story. To tell the truth, neither of them quite knew what had happened.

"Well, we'll have to get back inside. Hopefully Chris saved us some good seats," sighed Sean.

"We gotta go too," said Trina, looking at her watch.

"See ya later! We'll be cheering for you!" said Kari, waving as the two disappeared.

Sakura sighed, looking dreamily at the direction Jerohkai had been standing a few minutes ago. Kari frowned, nudging Sean,

"Well, at least three of us will."

----------------------------------------------------

"First up we have…Alice Dong, from Hoenn, against Tracey Tan, from Saffron!"

Choco watched the screen in the backstage of the stadium. The camera had focused on Tracey was now turned towards Alice. Trina grabbed Choco's arm,

"Look, that was the girl from earlier!"

Sure enough, like her dramatic entrance towards the two of them, she had suddenly popped out of a hole in the ground, riding a happy looking Trapinch. Her opponent looked more surprised than freaked out at the entrance, and the announcer had quite a shock too, before recovering her voice,

"When the judge is ready, let the first round begin!"

The two took the cue as to let out their starting Pokemon. Alice had let out a Bayleef, and Tracey had set out a Voltorb to counter it. The judge raised both flags,

"This is a three-on-three battle, no time limits, between Alice Dong from Hoenn, and Tracey Tan, from Saffron!"

Alice started first, shouting,

"Bayleef, let's start this out with Razor Leaf!"

"Voltorb, Thundershock!"

As bunches of leaves flew closer, Voltorb had sent a current of electricity and they fell lifelessly towards the ground.

"Now, Tackle the Bayleef!"

"Bayleef, step-side it!"

As Voltorb rolled fully speed towards the grass Pokemon, it merely took a step towards the right, letting the electric ball roll past. However, Tracey was not the least bit worried,

"Now, Self Destruct!"

Voltorb started glowing as Alice smirked,

"Trying to play at speed? Well, Bayleef, throw Voltorb towards the wall!"

If Choco hadn't been watching carefully, she would have missed the swift movement of Bayleef's leaf as it swung towards Voltorb, knocking it a safe distance away. It exploded right after Bayleef had let go, leaving Bayleef unharmed.

"Whoa, that is one fast Pokemon…" said Choco.

Trina nodded,

"Everyone here is so skilled, I wonder how far I can even make it."

Choco shook her head,

"Don't worry, I'm sure your skills are just as great. Let's battle hard so we can face each other in the finals, okay?"

Trina nodded,

"Sure. I think it's time for you to get ready for you battle, you can go check in, I'll watch this battle a bit longer."

"True. I guess I'll see you later!"

"Good luck," said Trina.

"You too."

--------------------------------------------------------

Pokebunny: Uh, I guess this chapter is just to introduce some new characters…kinda doesn't have much of a point.

Chocolate: You mean, it really has absolutely no point?

Pokebunny: Well, I guess I just wanted to introduce my friend's character. Other than that, yeah, there was no point. Anyways, please leave a review!


	35. Battle I: Against Jerohkai!

"Tracey is out of usable Pokemon, Alice wins the match!"

Trina watched as the girl returned her Pokemon and shook her opponent's hand. The announcer looked at his sheet of paper before returning to the microphone,

"Next up in the two-on-two tournament is Choco Ketchum, from Pallet Town, against Jerohkai Abbot, from Johto. Please step into the arena!"

Choco took out a pokeball, enlarging the size in her hand before throwing it out and releasing the Pokemon inside it. A Pupitar stood on her side of the field as Jerohkai let out his own Pokemon. A Golduck landed gracefully, spreading its wide flipper hands in a battle stance. The judge raised both flags before dropping them,

"This battle may now begin!"

"Dusty, start this off with Sandstorm!"

"Golduck, close your eyes, don't let sand get in them!"

Around the field, dust picked up and started to swirl around the two Pokemon. Jerohkai and Choco both seemed to know what to do, as Jerohkai shouted,

"Golduck, Confusion!"

At once, the dust particles seemed to have frozen, suspended in the air as Choco smirked,

"Nice try, but not quite. Dusty, Earthquake!"

Golduck, preoccupied by stopping the sand, was stuck full blast in the chest with the devastating ground-type attack. It recoiled, letting go of its concentration on the sand, and at once, the sandstorm picked up again.

"That's quite a strategy, using multitasking to confuse the opponent," complemented Chris.

"I know, Dusty must have trained quite a bit to pull it off himself. Like they always say, the best defense is a good offense," said Sean.

"Come on Jerohkai!" shouted Sakura encouragingly, but after receiving a death glare from Kari, she immediately added, "and Choco!"

"So that's your plan, huh?" muttered Jerohkai, "Well, then, two can play that game."

Choco scanned the wall of sand, noticing that Dusty was almost out of time before the sand subdued, she called out,

"Dusty, use Curse, get ready to strike!"

Jerohkai grinned; she was walking into his plan.

"Golduck, calm down. Let's get a good focus on the target. Use Meditate!"

'A target? Why does he need a target?' thought Choco.

Golduck closed its eyes, its purple jewel glowing as it spread through its body. The minute Choco saw Golduck inch off the ground, she realized his plan.

"Dusty, get rid of the Sandstorm. Then immediately put up a Protect shield!"

Jerohkai shook his head, he knew that Pupitars were originally slower, and she had reduced its speed too, leaving a free attack,

"Too slow! Golduck, Focus Punch!"

Choco watch in slow motion as Dusty mistimed the Protect, getting a direct hit from the fighting attack. The Pupitar slammed into the stadium wall, falling to the ground with a thud. The judge raised a flag towards Jerohkai,

"The first round goes to Jerohkai!"

Trina watched from backstage as the television focused on the scoring chart. She saw Dusty's picture blink out, and a small 1 was placed next to Jerohkai's Golduck. She stood, amazed at the speed and accuracy of such an attack at short notice. Choco returned her Pokemon, giving it a small 'thank you' before pulling out the next Pokemon on her belt,

"Let's go Artemis!"

The shiny Umbreon leaped eagerly from its Safari Ball, crouching in a battle stance. It hissed at the Golduck as Choco called out the first attack,

"Artemis, Double Team!"

Golduck watched as Artemis multiplied with incredible speed, soon confused in which was the real one. Jerohkai watched his Pokemon panic, and called out,

"Let's use a Water Gun! Find the real one!"

Golduck regained its composure quickly before sucking in a breath of air and spraying a Water Gun at on of the copies. The copy disappeared, leaving Choco a chance to strike.

"Artemis, use Bite!"

Artemis, along with the copies, leaped at Golduck, biting down at it. Golduck screeched in pain, shaking them off and panting from the super effective attack. Artemis landed softly on its feet, and Jerohkai shouted out,

"Golduck, Tackle!"

Choco watched, unfazed, as Golduck charged towards Artemis. She waited as Golduck came closer and closer until…

"Now, Artemis, use Shadow Ball!"

The Umbreon's mouth opened, releasing a black static ball towards the duck Pokemon. Since Golduck had been charging at such a fast speed, it was unable to stop or defend itself from the oncoming attack. It let out a screech as it fell to the floor. The judge raised a flag in Choco's direction,

"And the second battle goes to Choco!"

Jerohkai sighed as he returned his fallen partner. He reached for his second pokeball, but hesitated at his choice. He gave a small confident grin before pocketing the pokeball and sent out another,

"Go Pikachu!"

A yellow and black Pikachu jumped onto the field, its cheeks sparkling with electricity. Choco raised an eyebrow at his choice, but nevertheless, she called out her attack,

"Artemis, use Shadow Ball!"

"Pikachu, dodge it, jump into the air!"

Choco watched as her attack hit an empty target, and shielded her eyes as she glanced up at Pikachu.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"

"Artemis, look out!"

But the sun had blinded the Eevee-evolution, having to jumping randomly to a spot. Pikachu had easily changed its course, sending a direct critical-hit at Artemis. The dark Pokemon jumped back in pain, but its high defense stats had reduced much of the pain.

"Use Faint Attack Artemis!"

"Pikachu, Agility!" shouted Jerohkai.

Choco clenched her fists, watching as her attack, again, hit an empty target. Jerohkai took the chance to call out his next attack,

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"

Again, the electric mouse jumped into the air. Choco scanned the arena for the Pokemon, suddenly, something occurred to her as she hurriedly called out,

"Artemis, look for its shadow!"

Artemis dipped its head, searching the ground for the shadow. Once found, the Umbreon jumped swiftly to the side, having Pikachu crash into the ground, leaving an opening for an attack,

"Now, Artemis, finish this off with Shadow Ball, the Faint Attack!"

Artemis let out a howl, releasing the stored up shockwave towards Pikachu. It was sent flying backwards as, suddenly, Artemis appeared behind it, sent a Faint Attack as it slammed into the wall. The judge raised a flag towards Choco,

"Jerohkai Abbot is out of Pokemon, this match goings to Choco Ketchum!"

From the stands, cheers broke out as Choco and Jerohkai returned their Pokemon. They walked center of the arena, and Jerohkai put out his hand,

"That was a good battle."

"Thanks, you too," agreed Choco, shaking his hand.

They walked back to their separate sides as Choco smiled before pocketing Artemis' pokeball,

'That is one Pokemon you **don't **want to get mad.'

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Pokebunny: Whew! Another chappie out! Read and drop off a review!

Chocolate: Also, special thanks to popochii for her help in proofreading (and whatever else she did that I am personally to lazy to write)!


	36. Battle II: Fighting Dreamers

After narrowly winning the first round of the Pokémon League, Choco joined her friends back at the Pokémon Center, waiting while her pokemon healed.

"So…I guess we have the day to relax. The new postings for the next battles don't come out until tonight," said Chris, carefully examining the guidebook in which they had been given upon entering.

"Hm, I guess I need a break," said Choco, placing her hand on her chin as she thought, "I'll be right back."

"Hey, where are you going?" asked Kari as she watched her friend get up from the soft, plush couch.

"Just a walk around," was Choco's nonchalant reply.

They watched as the youngest member stuffed her hands into her pockets and hum a small tune while heading towards the glass doors, her Eevee trailing behind in confusion.

"Don't you think Choco's been acting a little weirdly lately?" asked Sakura after a moment of pondering.

There was no reply as the four sat in silence.

-----------------------------

'_If I've gotten this far, then of course…Oak has too. I wonder… are we going to battle each other…?'_ as Choco mused in her own thoughts, she surprised when the lake she had been watching suddenly started to bubble.

Almost immediately, a Vaporeon jumped out of the lake, sending glistens of water as it 'flew'. Choco watch in awe as it landed on the bank without trouble, until she noticed there was also a rider.

"HELLO!" greeted the girl, known as Alice, that Choco had seen fall from the sky, "I've seen you before!"

A little scared by the over-enthusiastic girl, Choco merely sweatdropped as she nodded slightly,

"Yeah, I think so. I'm Choco Ketchum."

"Ah! You're the daughter of the Kanto Pokémon Master!" said Alice with starry-eyes. "I'm so glad to meet you! I'm Alice Kaho!"

Confused, Choco replied,

"But during the battles, it said you were Alice Dong?"

"That's my official name, but I absolutely hate that last name, so I changed it to my mom's last name!" said Alice happily.

"Um, ok…" said Choco, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"So, I saw you battle with my cousin, and I thought it was quite impressive!" said Alice, striking up a conversation as the two started their way back from Pokémon Center.

"Eh, Jerohkai's your _cousin_?" asked Choco in surprise.

"Heh, I bet you never guessed!" said Alice proudly, although there was nothing much to be proud about.

Suddenly, her smile turned upside-down,

"You looked a little troubled back there, was something wrong?"

Choco gave a wry smile,

"Is it that obvious?" Upon Alice's unhelpful, yet enthusiastic nod, she continued, "I guess I'm a little worried about the League. One of my old rivals joined, and if we both win a few of the matches, I'll end up facing her sooner or later."

Alice clicked her tongue as she smiled at Choco,

"Everyone eventually has to face their fears. Jerohkai used to beat me every time we battled, and every time I lost, I would train harder. It eventually paid off why I finally beat him a few years ago had have beaten him since. You just have to go with the flow, that's how life is."

Choco raised an eyebrow slightly,

"Thanks, but I feel like I just got a long lecture from my parents…"

Alice stuck her tongue out,

"I'm just used to being the older cousin of Jerohkai. I've probably done this a million times or so."

"Anyways, thanks!" said Choco.

Alice returned to original hyper state as she boarded her Vaporeon,

"I'll see you in the semi-finals!" she called before jumping back into the lake (to scare the next person walking by).

Choco shook her head as she continued her walk,

"I still can't believe her and Jerohkai are even close to being related, but I do find her helpful."

Suddenly, she stopped,

"Did she say the semi-finals? I still have to win the next two battles before I get there…" she shrugged, "I probably didn't hear right."

------------------------------

"My cousin told you _that_?" asked Jerohkai, before sighing, "I am going to _kill_ Alice before she can spill more."

"No, actually, I found it helpful!" said Choco quickly, "I wanted to ask you to give these to her as a late Christmas gift."

She handed him a carefully wrapped present and he took it reluctantly, "I guess I could take the detour…"

"Thanks! By the way, Sakura wanted to see you somewhere!" said Choco running away to join Trina and the others at the dining hall.

Jerohkai glanced at the gift before him, "That must be the first time someone's asked me to deliver something to Alice."

-------------------------

"The battle listings are out," said Sean, eating his spaghetti from the cafeteria carefully, "We checked it for you, you're next opponent is someone named Honda Hugo."

"Ah! I've heard of him!" chirped Sakura quickly, "He's supposed to be feared by most because of his high leveled fighting pokemon. I heard he easily slid into the finals of last year's League."

"Wow," replied Choco, clearly amazed, "I'm not getting much of a break, am I?"

"That's the Pokémon League," said Chris, "Kanto's supposed to have the most competition ever since they closed a gym here."

"Hm…"

-----------------------

"I know tomorrow's going to be a hard day," said Choco lightly her pokemon, "but you guys can pull it off. We checked his pokemon used for the first round, and it seems that he has a small habit of underestimating his opponents. We should be able to win the first round, and it is going to be a necessity, but we can't reveal too much until the end."

After she received a nod (or a few), she went into her regular exercises to improve her pokemons' reflexes. It was soon late, and she was startled to hear Sean open the back door of the Pokémon Center.

"It's almost twelve, get some sleep for tomorrow," he said while rubbing his eyes.

"Is it that late?"

With one look at her digital watch, she quickly returned her pokemon and dashed past Sean,

"No kidding! Thanks!"

Sean rolled his eyes as he sleepily followed his friend towards the elevators. Tomorrow was another day, and he hoped that he wouldn't fall asleep in the middle because of this.

----------------------

"Welcome to the next round of the Kanto Pokémon League. Our first battle between Choco Ketchum and Honda Hugo will start now!"

Choco stepped onto the field, facing a muscular man in his twenties. He enlarged a pokeball before letting it out with a bored expression,

"Go Hitmonchan!"

"Let's do this Crystal!"

A mighty Dragonite stood against the macho Hitmonchan. It narrowed its eyes at Crystal as Choco called out the first attack,

"Crystal, start this off with Rain Dance!"

Honda narrowed his eyes at the useless rain pouring and called out his attack,

"Hitmonchan, ignore it! Send in a Mach Punch!"

Brushing the rain from its eyes, the punching pokemon rushed in at super speed in hopes of landing a straight hit on the dragon, in which it did, but Crystal shook it off immediately.

"Now, Aerial Ace!"

On command, Crystal took flight, and disappeared, only to reappear behind the confused Hitmonchan and send a critical hit. Hitmonchan staggered off balance as Choco took full advantage of it,

"Crystal, Dynamic Punch!"

Though the attack had a low chance of hitting, the Dragonite found the target frozen for a second, and took it, sending the punching pokemon in a confused daze.

Honda glared, obviously not expecting that much from a newbie of the League,

"Hitmonchan, Focus Punch!"

Chris nodded,

"That's a good choice of moves. It focuses the pokemon and gets ready to attack the opponent."

"Don't give it a chance! Crystal, end it with Shock Wave!"

It was only one second for the huge lightning bolt to strike from the clouds. Though it was not as powerful as Thunder, it had enough power to knock out the already confused Hitmonchan.

"The first round goes to Choco Ketchum," said the referee.

However, Choco was not the least bit relieved as she watched Honda's eyes narrow. She clutched Crystal's pokeball tighter,

"Now it begins."

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Pokebunny: I'm so so so sorry for leaving it untouched for 4 WHOLE months! As a result, I have decided to write the next few chapters as fast as possible and post them!

Chocolate: Thank you Dragonluvr1993 and my friend for finally getting me to write this!! We have decided to post the next chapter as soon as five reviews come in.


	37. Battle II Part II Onwards and Upwards

Choco watched carefully as Honda's eyes narrowed s he fingered his next pokeball before letting it out,

"Take 'em down, Hitmonlee!"

"Crystal, start this off with a Blizzard!" shouted Choco, hoping to have the first advantage with a frozen Pokemon.

No such luck. Honda called out his next attack, as if anticipating her moves,

"Hitmonlee, Mega Kick!"

Jumping high in the air, Hitmonlee easily avoided the direct blast of the Blizzard, getting only its foot frozen. It then came crashing down at an extremely fast speed, landing the frozen foot on Crystal in a super critical hit.

"Shake it off! Then send it an Aurora Beam!"

The Dragonite shook its head a few times to clear the fatigue and sent a rainbow-colored blast towards the kicking Pokemon.

"Dodge it, and then send in a High-Jump Kick!" shouted Honda.

"When it jumps, send in a Wing Attack! Follow it up with a Steel Wing!"

As Hitmonlee jumped, ready to attack Crystal, the flying/dragon Pokemon let out a huge gust of wind, sending the kicking Pokemon flying. Then, taking advantage of the temporary paralysis, it dove in for a Steel Wing.

"Grab it, and then throw it off with a Seismic Toss!" commanded Honda.

"No way, is that even possible?" asked Sakura, noticing the condition in which the fighting Pokemon was in.

But despite her opinion, Hitmonlee opened its eyes, squaring up its body with the dragon, and grabbed onto the white shining wing that was directed towards it. In panic, Crystal tried to jerk away, but its attempt was futile as Hitmonlee flipped in mid air to send its foot crashing Crystal into the solid rock ground, indenting a huge crater into the flat ground.

"Dragonite is unable to battle! Please select your next Pokemon!" announced the referee.

Returning the Dragonite with a 'thanks', Choco drew her second pokeball of the three-on-three match.

"Let's go, Tsunami!"

The grand Milotic stood only inches from the large indent, glaring at the kicking Pokemon, who was not the least bit tired from its previous battle. Gritting her teeth, she waited for Honda to call his move,

"Hitmonlee, start this off with Mind Reader!"

Focusing its target, Hitmonlee mentally set a lock-on stage towards Tsunami.

"Don't let it get you! Use Attract!"

At once, the beautiful Pokemon seemed ever more gorgeous, batting its long lashes as it shyly waved its tail at Hitmonlee.

"Close your eyes, remain focused!" commanded Honda.

"Quickly, use Hypnosis!"

As the defending Pokemon's eyes closed, the Milotic wasted no time in letting out loops of sound waves, slowly luring the fighting Pokemon to sleep.

"Good, now charge for a Hyper Beam!"

"Hitmonlee, wake up, use Endure!"

"Choco's really going for the quick KO in this battle," stated Chris, slightly surprised at her tactics.

As the golden beam started to grow in the water Pokemon's mouth, Hitmonlee struggled in its sleep. At the last moment, before the attack could hit it, it woke up and crossed its arms across its chest, enduring the beam until Tsunami could no longer hold the attack.

"Go, Hitmonlee, use Dynamic Punch!"

Using its boasted accuracy, despite Tsunami's attempt to move, Hitmonlee had already sent a deadly punch straight into the center of its body, sending Tsunami flying back and crashing into the rocky floor.

"Tsunami, can you get up?"

As if nodding, the water Pokemon stood up, shaking the dizziness off. Honda grimaced at the stubborn Pokemon, growing slightly out of patience as he watched it get into its stance again. Suddenly, Choco, gaining a wonderful idea, called out,

"Tsunami, Hydro Pump!"

"What? Is she crazy?" asked Kari, "She can't expect to hit that agile Pokemon with such a slow attack! It's a plain waste of energy!"

"Hitmonlee, into the air!"

As if it could fly, the fighting Pokemon jumped swiftly into the air to avoid the blast of water. Choco, surprisingly, shouted,

"Don't chance your course, fill the hole with water!"

True enough, Hitmonlee's original position was at the middle of the crater, so when it had moved, Tsunami was free to fill the rest of the hole with water, thus creating a basin.

"Now, into the water!"

Hitmonlee landed next to the makeshift lake as Tsunami dove in, sending hardly any sprays of water into the air as it sunk to the bottom.

"Don't give in, use Earthquake!" directed Honda.

Hitmonlee jumped into the air, but before it could stomp on the land, Choco had given her command,

"Now, use Iron Tail!"

Following Hitmonlee into the air, Tsunami came up into a beautiful arc, slamming its now hardened tail into the fighting Pokemon's check.

"Hitmonlee, use Reversal!"

During the airborne fight, Hitmonlee used its last ounce of energy to exert the attack. It hit full on, and the attack knocked out the water Pokemon, but the awkward angle sent the fighting Pokemon landing harshly on the stony pavement. When neither Pokemon moved, the referee raised both flags,

"This battle is considered a tie, please let out your last Pokemon."

"Nice try, Tsunami," said Choco, clasping her hand around her Pokemon's pokeball, "Let's take this battle, Sky!"

"Win this for me, Hitmontop!" shouted Honda, releasing his last pokeball.

After a graceful dive through the air, the blue and white dragon landed perfectly at the edge of the basin, facing its opponent, a small but strong Hitmontop.

"Start this off with Dragon Dance!" shouted Choco.

"Quick, use Mach Punch, distract it!"

"Counter with Aerial Ace!"

As the fighting Pokemon dashed forwards with inhuman speed, Sky took its fasted attack, disappearing into the skies as it locked onto its target.

"Match it with Hi Jump Kick!"

Just as the Altaria was about to make a dive, it was met face first by the foot of Hitmontop, and it let out a sharp cry of pain, taking the skies again.

"Before it lands, launch a Sky Attack!"

Shaking away the pain, the Altaria turned its rise into a steep dive, beautiful red flames surrounding its body.

"Rapid Spin, Hitmontop!" called Honda, hoping for the attack to deflect off.

Though falling, Hitmontop turned upside down, spinning itself at high speeds. Sky, however, swept past, sending the fighting Pokémon off towards the ends of the field. Satisfied, the Altaria landed, resting its tired body.

"Hitmontop, use Dig!"

Standing up with much effort, the Pokémon again spun quickly, burying itself deep in the grounds. Choco frowned, unsure of whether to tell her Pokémon to take flight. Of course, if it did, it would rid the last of its energy, but if it didn't, there was a good chance of being knocked out by the Dig attack.

"Sky, look for movement! Watch the water currents!"

The flying/dragon Pokémon obeyed, its sensitive feathers pressed against the hard ground as its sharp eyes watched for the slightest twitch in the peaceful lake. Sean nodded in admiration,

"That was smart. If Hitmontop comes to the top of the ground, the lake would definitely show movement. Sky could just take flight during that time."

He was suddenly interrupted when Sky rose with a swift lap of its wings. It wasn't fast enough, however, as Hitmontop came spinning from the ground and jumped into the air after it, still drilling the invisible soil.

"Flip over Sky!"

Using the air to its advantage, Sky easily made a quickly flip in the air, allowing Hitmontop's attack to hit an empty target. Honda, finding his Pokémon in trouble, called out his next attack.

"Rapid Spin again!" he commanded, "Then use Dig when you hit the ground!"

Again turning in mid-air, the fighting Pokémon's agility proved its worth, allowing it to spin at high speeds as it made a straight dive towards the ground.

"Follow it Sky!"

The dragon bird made a steep stoop, reaching ground level seconds after Hitmontop disappeared into the dirt.

"Use your gravitation!" called Choco quickly, "Send a strong Earthquake!"

Using its weight as an extra boast, Sky dropped to the ground with a strong force, causing even some rocks posted as landscape to crumble and the new-formed basin to launch out tidal waves.

"Get out of there, Hitmontop!" shouted Honda.

It was too late, however, and as Hitmontop climbed out of the hole, it tottered before falling backwards. The referee waited for it stand up, then finding it unable to, raised a flag in Choco's direction.

"Hitmontop is unable to battle; this match goes to Choco Ketchum!"

Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Choco gave a soft smile as she pressed the return button on her pokeball to give her Pokémon a long deserved rest.

"That was a good battle," she said, shaking her opponent's hand.

Honda gave a grim smile, "You have potential, kid. Good luck the rest of the way."

The stands filled with cheers at the close battle, and Choco smiled as she followed Honda towards the exit for the next battles to continue. If there was anything she'd learned today, it'd be the fact the road to become Kanto Champion wouldn't be an easy one, but with her Pokémon, she would try her best.


End file.
